Electoral malpractice / by Sarah Birch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Birch, Sarah, 1963-

Series:

Comparative politics (Oxford University Press)

Comparative politics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elections--Corrupt practices.

Elections.

Physical Description:

210 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Summary:

Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterized by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu

Elections ought in theory to go a long way toward making democracy 'work', but in many contexts, they fail to embody democratic ideals because they are affected by electoral manipulation and misconduct. This volume undertakes an analytic and explanatory investigation of electoral malpractice, which is understood as taking three principal forms: manipulation of the rules governing elections, manipulation of vote preference formation and expression, and manipulation of the voting process.

The study-which is comparative in nature-starts out by providing a conceptual definition and typology of electoral malpractice, before considering evidence for the causes of this phenomenon. The principal argument of the book is that factors affecting the costs of electoral malpractice are crucial in determining whether leaders will, in any given context, seek to rig elections. Among the most important factors of this sort are the linkages between elites and citizen, and in particular the balance between relations of the civil society and clientelist types. These linkages play an important role in determining how much legitimacy leaders will lose by engaging in electoral manipulation as well as the likely consequences of legitimacy loss.

The study also shows how electoral malpractice might be reduced by means of a variety of strategies designed to raise the cost of electoral manipulation, by increasing the ability of civil society and international actors to monitor and denounce it. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Defining Electoral Integrity and Electoral Malpractice 11

Chapter 2 Typologies and Measurements of Electoral Malpractice 28

Chapter 3 The Strategic Manipulation of Elections 52

Chapter 4 The Manipulation of Electoral Institutions 71

Chapter 5 The Manipulation of Vote Choice 89

Chapter 6 The Manipulation of Electoral Administration 109

Chapter 7 Prospects for Reform 133

Chapter 8 Conclusion 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [183]-203) and index.

ISBN:

9780199606160

0199606161

OCLC:

751732378