Latest Resources
The successful Ghana election of 2008 – a convenient myth? Ethnicity in Ghana’s elections revisited
Africa, Article / Working Paper, Democracy, Electoral Systems, Civil SocietyGhana’s 2008 elections have been hailed by national and international observers as a model for Africa. This perception has prevailed despite persistent concerns about “ethnic block voting” and electoral fraud. Electoral malpractice and vote rigging along ethnic lines in Ghana’s virtual two‐party system could regain decisive importance as a “third...
Stagnation of a “miracle”: Botswana’s governance record revisited
Africa, Article / Working Paper, Democracy, Political Parties, Civil SocietyBotswana has been dubbed an 'African miracle'. The country has been praised not only for maintaining a multiparty system and high growth rates since independence but also for its good governance record. In contrast to other African countries, the extent of neopatrimonialism, which runs counter to good governance, is said to be low. This article aims to assess...
The power of proximity: strategic decisions in African Party Politics
Africa, Article / Working Paper, Electoral Systems, Political Parties, Civil SocietyThere is increasing availability of survey data which has enabled researchers to rethink and challenge the notion that ethnicity is a main determinant of political party success. The observation that people are more likely to vote regionally than ethnically, has inspired a review of the idea that African voters act parochially rather than tribally. This paper...
The predatory or virtuous choices governors make: political institutions and economic performance
Article / Working Paper, Democracy, Latin America and the Carribean, Political Parties, Academic/Think TankThis paper explores the idea that political institutions are important determinants of the policies implemented in states. The authors propose a model of the policymaking process and then test its implications with state-level data for the period 1999 to 2006 in Brazil. The focus of the empirical tests is on the impact of political competition and checks and...
Political cycles and economic performance in OECD countries: empirical evidence from 1951-2006
Article / Working Paper, Electoral Systems, Political Parties, Academic/Think TankThis paper examines whether electoral motives and government ideology influence short-term economic performance. I employ data on annual GDP growth in 21 OECD countries over the 1951-2006 period and provide a battery of empirical tests. In countries with two-party systems GDP growth is boosted before elections and, under leftwing governments, in the first two years of a legislative period....
Using International Law to Assess Elections
Article / Working Paper, Electoral Systems, Europe and CIS, Civil SocietyThis article provides an overview of existing obligations for democratic elections in Public International Law (PIL), and links these obligations to criteria for assessing electoral processes. We argue that PIL provides a basis for election observation that is more transparent, more objective, and has greater authority with host countries because it relies on states‘ acknowledged...