Competitive elections and conflict

Most African elections have improved, reshaping the stereotype that they are perverse and conflict based. Only about 20% of elections held in Africa between 1990 and 2008 involved significant levels of violence (Goldsmith 2010; Straus 2012). Yet outbreaks of conflict remain worrying, and take on a high profile. Since 2007, conflict-ridden elections in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe show the distance that Africa still needs to cover in improving its elections. Conflicts undermine the legitimacy of elections and their outcomes, and devalue the democratic process.

Related Subject(s): Democracy and Governance