Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: T here is a saying in politics that the people in democracies get the gov- ernment they deserve.Since citizens delegate certain powers to their government and choose their representatives, those who vote (or don't vote) ultimately bear responsibility for the form their government takes.We are often also told that those who don't vote don't get to complain, for elections are the heart of the democratic process.But in Why Electoral Integrity Matters, Pippa Norris shows how frequently elections around the world stray from democratic norms, and indeed how often failures in electoral oversight persist in spite of the will of the people.Flawed elections, Norris argues, are a detriment to the people's belief in the legitimacy of the state and its institutions.Electoral flaws may range from outright fraud (e.g., the stuffing of ballot boxes), to maladministration (e.g., erroneous voter lists), to systematic forms of exclusion (e.g., onerous voter registration requirements), to deceptive campaigning (e.g., robocalls), to political interference (e.g., pro-incumbency bias in staterun media), to outright state violence (e.g., intimidation at polling stations).In Canada, for example, we see ruling parties attempt to influence the make-up of the voting public, as with recent federal legislation (i.e., the Fair Elections Act) impeding Elections Canada's ability to actively promote voting.There is a potentially insidious motive at work in this legislation, given the likely anti-incumbency bias of disaffected nonvoters, and seeing as electoral management bodies around the world, on the contrary, are seeking to "develop effective outreach programs designed to strengthen voter education and citizen participation, especially programs targeting the poor, the younger generation, women, and minorities" (87).Obviously, flawed elections are a problem in both the Global North and the Global South.However, Norris suggests overall that established or consolidated democracies have more robust mechanisms for ensuring fair elections, and for responding to misconduct when it takes place.Why Electoral Integrity Matters is concerned primarily with the consistency between global electoral norms and electoral realities.Norris highlights the increasingly widespread importance of fair and transpar-
DOI: 10.29173/cjs25490
Author: Michael Follert
Institution: University of Guelph
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2289107897