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D-Minus elections: The politics and norms of international election observation

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kelley, J
Published in: International Organization
October 1, 2009

As international election monitors have grown active worldwide, their announcements have gained influence. Sometimes, however, they endorse highly flawed elections. Because their leverage rests largely on their credibility, this is puzzling. Understanding the behavior of election monitors is important because they help the international community to evaluate the legitimacy of governments and because their assessments inform the data used by scholars to study democracy. Furthermore, election monitors are also particularly instructive to study because the variety of both intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations that observe elections makes it possible to compare them across many countries and political contexts. This study uses a new dataset of 591 international election-monitoring missions. It shows that despite their official mandate to focus on election norms, monitors do not only consider the elections' quality; their assessments also reflect the interests of their member states or donors as well as other tangential organizational norms. Thus, even when accounting as best as possible for the nature and level of irregularities in an election, monitors' concerns about democracy promotion, violent instability, and organizational politics and preferences are associated with election endorsement. The study also reveals differences in the behavior of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations and explains why neither can pursue their core objectives single-mindedly. © 2009 The IO Foundation.

Duke Scholars

Published In

International Organization

DOI

EISSN

1531-5088

ISSN

0020-8183

Publication Date

October 1, 2009

Volume

63

Issue

4

Start / End Page

765 / 787

Related Subject Headings

  • International Relations
  • 4408 Political science
  • 4404 Development studies
  • 1606 Political Science
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
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Kelley, J. (2009). D-Minus elections: The politics and norms of international election observation. International Organization, 63(4), 765–787. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818309990117
Kelley, J. “D-Minus elections: The politics and norms of international election observation.” International Organization 63, no. 4 (October 1, 2009): 765–87. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020818309990117.
Kelley J. D-Minus elections: The politics and norms of international election observation. International Organization. 2009 Oct 1;63(4):765–87.
Kelley, J. “D-Minus elections: The politics and norms of international election observation.” International Organization, vol. 63, no. 4, Oct. 2009, pp. 765–87. Scopus, doi:10.1017/S0020818309990117.
Kelley J. D-Minus elections: The politics and norms of international election observation. International Organization. 2009 Oct 1;63(4):765–787.
Journal cover image

Published In

International Organization

DOI

EISSN

1531-5088

ISSN

0020-8183

Publication Date

October 1, 2009

Volume

63

Issue

4

Start / End Page

765 / 787

Related Subject Headings

  • International Relations
  • 4408 Political science
  • 4404 Development studies
  • 1606 Political Science