Safeguarding election management bodies in the age of democratic recession

James, Toby S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5826-5461, Matlosa, Khabele and Shale, Victor (2023) Safeguarding election management bodies in the age of democratic recession. South African Journal of International Affairs, 30 (3). pp. 323-336. ISSN 1022-0461

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Abstract

There is strong evidence that we have entered into a democratic recession – where the quality of democracy is being reversed around the world. As the organisations responsible for running elections, election management bodies (EMBs) are at the fulcrum of the challenge of protecting democracy. This article introduces the special issue on ‘Safeguarding Election Management Bodies in the Age of Democratic Recession’ which aims to consider the emerging challenges that EMBs are facing, and how they can be best equipped to respond to them. It begins by defining some characteristics of a democratic recession and mapping global trends in democratic quality. It charts global trends in election quality and maps variation in the quality of electoral management worldwide. The article then considers the implications of a democratic recession for EMBs and how international and regional organisations have sought to address these problems. Finally, it introduces articles in the special issue.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Introduction to issue on: Safeguarding Election Management Bodies in the Age of Democratic Recession. Funding Information: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 890-2020-0006].
Uncontrolled Keywords:	democracy,development,elections,electoral integrity,justice,security,democracy,democratic backsliding,democratisation,political science and international relations,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3320
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Policy & Politics Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	13 Jan 2024 01:36
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2024 01:36
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/94155
DOI:	10.1080/10220461.2023.2278594

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