‘Watching the watcher’: an evaluation of local election observers in Tanzania

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Boniface Makulilo
Keyword(s):  
Transition Countries ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
The Third ◽  
Local Election ◽  
Monitoring Committee ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Election Observation

ABSTRACTThe unfolding of the Third Wave of democracy cast a mounting weight on election observation in transition countries, partly due to the inability of regimes in power to conduct free and fair elections. However, observation is not always neutral. Sometimes observers distance themselves from the data they collect, leading to controversial certification of elections. In this case stakeholders may view them as partial, hence downsizing their credibility and trust. Yet observers' reports have rarely been reviewed. This article evaluates three reports by the leading election observer in Tanzania, the Tanzania Election Monitoring Committee (TEMCO) for the 1995, 2000 and 2005 general elections. It notes that despite the prevalence of the same factors that TEMCO considered as irregularities in the 1995 and 2000 general elections when it certified those elections as ‘free but not fair’, it issued a ‘clean, free and fair’ verdict on the 2005 general elections. This conclusion, at variance from the data, reveals problems in assuring observer neutrality.

scholarly journals Resisting International Election Observation Through Election Visit Programmes: The Case of Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-331
Author(s):  
Muhamad Takiyuddin Ismail ◽  
Norazam Mohd Noor
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
International Norm ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Election Observation

Malaysia has not invited International Election Monitoring Organisations (IEMOs) for any of its general elections (GEs) since 1990 and so is numbered among those states that defy this international norm. Although the elections under the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime displayed a wide variety of manipulative practices, the BN was able, due to its position as a semi-authoritarian nature, its strategic importance and its lack of dependence on foreign aid, to successfully resist demands for the presence of IEMOs. The prospects for IEMOs has been further reduced, since the GE 2013, by the Election Commission’s “election visit programme” (EVP), adopted to compensate for the absence of IEMOs. Following Malaysia’s historic GE 2018, a widespread consensus has developed that though Malaysia should not abandon its own EVP programme, it should readopt this international norm by inviting IEMOs. This is especially needed considering the amateurish state of domestic election monitoring in Malaysia.

scholarly journals Dual Effects of Democracy Promotion: Evidence from International Election Observation Data of Myanmar’s General Elections

2020 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050012
Author(s):  
Xiang Wu
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
The West ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Election Observation ◽  
Work Done

Since the 1990s, international election observation, as an important way of election monitoring, has become increasingly active on the international stage. By inviting international election observation missions (IEOMs) to conduct election monitoring, the nascent democracies not only hope to promote democracy and enhance its legitimacy, but also tend to reduce international sanctions and improve relations with the West. The international election observation of Myanmar’s two general elections in 2010 and 2015 is an important sample to observe Myanmar’s democratic process and its interaction with the international community. IEOMs in Myanmar have witnessed diverse situations from being rejected to being invited, from being independently observed to participating and from slamming elections to praising them. In the 2015 general elections, IEOMs had an important impact on Myanmar’s democratic transition, but in essence, their limitations were only surrounding the election-related matters. The work done by many international election observation organizations has been limited to the procedural level of democracy, and could not help Myanmar to further the institution-building. General elections in Myanmar are due in 2020. Currently, many IEOMs have traveled to Myanmar for election observation, but it is yet to be decided whether it will contribute to good governance in Myanmar.

Charting the Currents of the Third Wave

Hypatia ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Orr
Keyword(s):  
Third Wave ◽  
The Third

Rethinking Philosophy in the Third Wave of Feminism

Hypatia ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 100-115
Author(s):  
David Golumbia
Keyword(s):  
Third Wave ◽  
The Third

MODEL OF SOCIAL POTENTIAL OF CHILDHOOD IN THE RUSSIAN REGIONS: THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS

2019 ◽  
pp. 152-162
Author(s):  
A.G. Filipova ◽  
A.V. Vysotskaya
Keyword(s):  
Third Wave ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
The Third ◽  
Control Factors ◽  
Social Potential ◽  
System Input ◽  
Optimal Values ◽  
Fixed Ideal ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

The article presents the results of mathematical experiments with the system «Social potential of childhood in the Russian regions». In the structure of system divided into three subsystems – the «Reproduction of children in the region», «Children’s health» and «Education of children», for each defined its target factor (output parameter). The groups of infrastructure factors (education, health, culture and sport, transport), socio-economic, territorial-settlement, demographic and en-vironmental factors are designated as the factors that control the system (input parameters). The aim of the study is to build a model îf «Social potential of childhood in the Russian regions», as well as to conduct experiments to find the optimal ratio of the values of target and control factors. Three waves of experiments were conducted. The first wave is related to the analysis of the dynam-ics of indicators for 6 years. The second – with the selection of optimal values of control factors at fixed ideal values of target factors. The third wave allowed us to calculate the values of the target factors based on the selected optimal values of the control factors of the previous wave.

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