A Preventive Approach to Post-Election Conflicts in Contemporary Africa

<p>In this dissertation the author hypothesizes that (H1): In Africa, countries that use majoritarian electoral systems are more likely to experience post-election conflicts than are countries that use proportional electoral systems, (H2): In Africa, countries that use majoritarian electoral systems are more likely to experience post-election conflicts than are countries that use mixed electoral systems, and (H3): In Africa, countries that use mixed electoral systems are more likely to experience post-election conflicts than are countries that use proportional electoral systems.</p> <p>These hypotheses are tested by using both primary qualitative and secondary quantitative data analyses in order to answer the research question: "In Africa, why do some countries tend to experience post-election conflict while others do not?" This dissertation focuses on the first twenty years (1990-2010) of the move to democracy in Africa. With elections as the unit of analysis, and using the dataset on African electoral violence and the Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights dataset, this dissertation uses a most different systems design on six countries included in the Afrobarometer studies: Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Togo, and Senegal. Among these six countries, Ghana and Togo use a majoritarian electoral system, Benin and Guinea-Bissau use a proportional representation electoral system, and Guinea and Senegal use a mixed electoral system.</p> <p>The findings indicate that reforming the electoral system to accommodate the needs of the populace in countries with frequent electoral conflicts is the one way not only to cope with current post-election conflicts, but also to help prevent future ones. To be more specific, the author recommends that proportional representation systems are the best tools to help prevent and mitigate post-election conflicts in Africa. Other implications include, but are not limited to, identifying ways to help promote substantive and representative democracies in Africa based on the findings of both the quantitative and qualitative phases of the study.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management (Ph.D. INCM)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

International Conflict Management

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Agbehonou, Edoh

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Richard Vengroff
• Dr. Nurudeen Akinyemi
• Dr. Oumar Diop

• election
• democratization
• human rights
• africa
• electoral conflicts
• election management
• electoral systems
• International Relations
• Peace and Conflict Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/650

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu:etd-1653