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The more the merrier? the effects of having multiple international election monitoring organizations

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kelley, J
Published in: Perspectives on Politics
March 1, 2009

As the pressure to invite international election monitors rose at the end of the Cold War, states refused to grant the United Nations a dominant role. Thus, today multiple intergovernmental, regional, and international non-governmental organizations often monitor the same elections with equal authority. This article examines the costs and benefits of this complex regime to highlight some possible broader implications of regime complexity. It argues that the availability of many different organizations facilitates action that might otherwise have been blocked for political reasons. Furthermore, when different international election monitoring agencies agree, their consensus can bolster their individual legitimacy as well as the legitimacy of the international norms they stress, and thus magnify their influence on domestic politics. Unfortunately the election monitoring example also suggests that complex regimes can engender damaging inter-organizational politics and that the different biases, capabilities, and standards of organizations sometime can lead organizations to outright contradict each other or work at cross-purposes. © 2009 Copyright American Political Science Association.

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Published In

Perspectives on Politics

DOI

ISSN

1537-5927

Publication Date

March 1, 2009

Volume

7

Issue

1

Start / End Page

59 / 64

Related Subject Headings

  • Political Science & Public Administration
  • 4408 Political science
  • 1606 Political Science
 

Citation

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Kelley, J. (2009). The more the merrier? the effects of having multiple international election monitoring organizations. Perspectives on Politics, 7(1), 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592709090094
Kelley, J. “The more the merrier? the effects of having multiple international election monitoring organizations.” Perspectives on Politics 7, no. 1 (March 1, 2009): 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592709090094.
Kelley, J. “The more the merrier? the effects of having multiple international election monitoring organizations.” Perspectives on Politics, vol. 7, no. 1, Mar. 2009, pp. 59–64. Scopus, doi:10.1017/S1537592709090094.
Journal cover image

Published In

Perspectives on Politics

DOI

ISSN

1537-5927

Publication Date

March 1, 2009

Volume

7

Issue

1

Start / End Page

59 / 64

Related Subject Headings

  • Political Science & Public Administration
  • 4408 Political science
  • 1606 Political Science