Abstract

This article explores the politics and policies that underpin election observation and monitoring, particularly as they relate to international assistance for democracy-building and post-conflict elections. Central to this is the nature of election observation, its linkages with democracy-building, and a critical evaluation of its effectiveness as a contributory factor in advancing the democratic project in Africa. The paper draws upon the case of the April 2007 elections in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and largest oil exporter, that were widely held by international observers and local election monitors to be deeply flawed, but were upheld by the government without any international sanctions/reprisals. The paper attempts to illustrate some of the difficulties and contradictions that are embedded in the election observer mission ‘industry’ as a tool of the international community for providing legitimacy for the conduct of free and fair elections, but which in some cases result in ‘acceptable’ outcomes that are neither fully free nor fair.

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