The 2016 U.S. Election: Fears and Facts About Electoral Integrity

Issue Date April 2017
Volume 28
Issue 2
Page Numbers 50-62
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This paper puts the issues of election integrity that arose in 2016 in context. First, I identify four integrity-related themes that have arisen in American elections since the 2000 presidential election. Second, I examine what it means to assess the health of the American electoral system. Third, I provide two frameworks for assessing the health of the election system, one that takes the perspective of a typical voter, the other that focuses on the flow of information in an election. I conclude by bringing this discussion back to the specific case of 2016, providing a preliminary assessment of the health of the election process in the most recent federal election.

About the Author

Charles Stewart III is Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

View all work by Charles Stewart III