Building Democratic Infrastructure: village electoral institutions

Abstract

Village elections are presently at a crossroad: processes and rules still must be improved and further delays will only undermine the credibility of village elections. This paper adopts a historical perspective and an institutional approach to argue that reform of village electoral institutions is still a top priority in rural political development. It argues for the creation of a national electoral commission tasked with implementing, supervising, and adjudicating village elections. It then discusses the rationale for initiating candidate-initiated and candidate-centered elections and proposes altering campaigning as well as the ‘two majority’ rule. Last but not least, I advocate the synchronization of election dates. A fixed election date, at the provincial level if not nationally, would enhance the importance of elections, attract more media coverage, and foster civic culture.