A review of Beyond Free and Fair: Monitoring Elections and Building Democracy by Eric C. Bjornlund.
About the Author
Jørgen Elklit is professor of political science at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has worked as a consultant on election and democratization issues in Africa, Asia, and Europe. He was a member of South Africa’s 1994 Independent Electoral Commission and Secretary to Kenya’s 2008 Commission of Inquiry.
Why do election monitors sometimes issue contradictory statements or endorse flawed elections? The answers are not always straightforward; in some cases, the monitors’ good intentions may undermine their credibility.
Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov attempted to use sham democratic elections in February 2017 to bolster his legitimacy both at home and abroad.