Electoral Protest and Democracy in the Developing World

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.

Emily Beaulieu is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky. She has also published work on political economy and democracy in outlets such as International Organization and Comparative Political Studies. She is working on several projects on political violence, and recently received a TESS grant to study the impact of partisanship and political polarization on perceptions of election fraud. She received her PhD from the University of California, San Diego.