Electoral Protest and Democracy in the Developing World

This book investigates elections and protest in developing countries, and what those protests mean for democracy.

Emily Beaulieu (Author)

9781107612273, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 March 2014

238 pages, 6 b/w illus. 8 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.4 cm, 0.34 kg

'Beaulieu's book presents original data on multiparty elections in 118 developing countries over three decades, from 1975 to 2006. It examines two facets of electoral protest: boycotts of the election, and demonstrations following the vote.' Michael Biggs, Mobilization

This book shows that the third wave of democracy has been accompanied by a worldwide wave of opposition-initiated, election-related protests. Such electoral protests result from a failure on the part of incumbent and opposition elites in the developing world to negotiate acceptable terms of electoral conduct, and their consequences for democracy depend on the context in which they occur. Where election boycotts receive international support, they increase the probability of democratic reform, but where support is primarily domestic, there is a higher probability of authoritarian backsliding. Based on an extensive new data set covering nearly thirty years of electoral protest and election-related reform in the developing world, this book explores the causes of different types of electoral protest and their consequences for democracy. Statistical analysis and case studies provide readers with a complete picture of the dynamics surrounding developing world elections, protest, and democratization.

1. Introduction
2. Elite bargaining and developing world elections
3. Causes of electoral protest
4. Election day and its aftermath
5. Democratic consequences of electoral protest
6. Conclusion
Appendix A. Data and robustness
Appendix B. Boycotts
Appendix C. Demonstrations
Appendix D. Reforms.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Comparative politics [JPB]