Preventing Election Violence Through Diplomacy
Description
Background: Violence affects a significant number of elections worldwide, posing a challenge to consolidation of democracy and curtailing free and fair expression of popular political will. Several violence prevention tools are generally applied, with mixed results, to mitigate the risks of violence in elections. Preventive diplomacy is one of such tools used commonly in various cases but it’s nature and usage are largely understudied areas. Against this backdrop, the author was engaged in an eight-month-long fellowship to examine the use of preventive diplomacy at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in 2017. Research Question: This research dealt two primary questions: The first was - what does the practice of preventive diplomacy in the prevention of election violence currently look like? This research attempted to analyze the practice by mapping various dimensions in practice, contributing towards an eventual typology. The key dimensions identified through the study were the timing, message, provider, delivery, mandate and audience of preventive diplomacy. The second was - how can preventive diplomacy be applied most effectively? This tool is particularly contextual and dependent on personalities involved and the environment. However, by evaluating past applications of preventive diplomacy, the research has identified conditions common to success and failure, as well as risk factors in using diplomacy. Data and Statistical Methods used: This research is largely qualitative and draws from available literature, expert interviews, roundtable consultations with academicians and practitioners, personal experience of the researcher and feedback of two workshop sessions. The research also utilized a comparative analysis conducted on presidential elections held from 2006 to 2017 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Nigeria, three sub-Saharan African nations with histories of electoral violence and use of preventive diplomacy. By analyzing political/electoral contexts, the aforementioned dimensions of preventive diplomatic engagement, and election outcomes (both in-country and cross-country), the research has highlighted a number of generalizable “best practices” in the use of preventive diplomacy. Results: Based on the findings of this research work, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has recently published a book “Preventing Election Violence Through Diplomacy”. Further details about this book is available at: https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/01/preventing-election-violence-throughdiplomacy
Preventing Election Violence Through Diplomacy
Background: Violence affects a significant number of elections worldwide, posing a challenge to consolidation of democracy and curtailing free and fair expression of popular political will. Several violence prevention tools are generally applied, with mixed results, to mitigate the risks of violence in elections. Preventive diplomacy is one of such tools used commonly in various cases but it’s nature and usage are largely understudied areas. Against this backdrop, the author was engaged in an eight-month-long fellowship to examine the use of preventive diplomacy at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in 2017. Research Question: This research dealt two primary questions: The first was - what does the practice of preventive diplomacy in the prevention of election violence currently look like? This research attempted to analyze the practice by mapping various dimensions in practice, contributing towards an eventual typology. The key dimensions identified through the study were the timing, message, provider, delivery, mandate and audience of preventive diplomacy. The second was - how can preventive diplomacy be applied most effectively? This tool is particularly contextual and dependent on personalities involved and the environment. However, by evaluating past applications of preventive diplomacy, the research has identified conditions common to success and failure, as well as risk factors in using diplomacy. Data and Statistical Methods used: This research is largely qualitative and draws from available literature, expert interviews, roundtable consultations with academicians and practitioners, personal experience of the researcher and feedback of two workshop sessions. The research also utilized a comparative analysis conducted on presidential elections held from 2006 to 2017 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, and Nigeria, three sub-Saharan African nations with histories of electoral violence and use of preventive diplomacy. By analyzing political/electoral contexts, the aforementioned dimensions of preventive diplomatic engagement, and election outcomes (both in-country and cross-country), the research has highlighted a number of generalizable “best practices” in the use of preventive diplomacy. Results: Based on the findings of this research work, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has recently published a book “Preventing Election Violence Through Diplomacy”. Further details about this book is available at: https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/01/preventing-election-violence-throughdiplomacy