{"id":{"repo_id":"u-iceland","oai_identifier":"oai:skemman.is:1946/7299"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/u-iceland/oai:skemman.is:1946/7299","repository":{"repo_id":"u-iceland","name":"University of Iceland","base_url":"https://skemman.is/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Can they do any better? Elections in Guinea-Bissau","abstract":"During the past decades international election observation and active international presence has increasingly become a trend in low-income countries, emphasising the importance of multi-party elections and democracy. Endorsed by academics it is argued that elections play several roles in rebuilding post-conflict societies. This has however not proven to be the case in many African countries; where post-conflict elections have been a source of tension and discontent. Influenced by realism some argue the increased interest of the international community is due to fear of spill-over affects. The aim of the study is to examine the opinions of the international community in Bissau and Bissau-Guineans on the countries’ ability to perform elections, as well as their views on post-conflict elections, their contribution to peace and democracy and the motives behind the international community´s presence in Guinea-Bissau. The study is based on ten weeks of fieldwork during and after the 2009 presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau. Methods used were semi-structured interviews and participant observations with Bissau-Guineans, representatives of international organisations, diplomats and journalists. The international interlocutors tended to underline the importance of well-performed elections, while at the same time they rejected the idea of a causal relationship between elections and democracy. The Bissau-Guineans emphasised the importance of establishing peace before elections, due to the fact that peace was a prerequisite for democracy, however, they believed that well performed elections would contribute to democracy.","abstract_html":"During the past decades international election observation and active international presence has increasingly become a trend in low-income countries, emphasising the importance of multi-party elections and democracy. Endorsed by academics it is argued that elections play several roles in rebuilding post-conflict societies. This has however not proven to be the case in many African countries; where post-conflict elections have been a source of tension and discontent. Influenced by realism some argue the increased interest of the international community is due to fear of spill-over affects. The aim of the study is to examine the opinions of the international community in Bissau and Bissau-Guineans on the countries’ ability to perform elections, as well as their views on post-conflict elections, their contribution to peace and democracy and the motives behind the international community´s presence in Guinea-Bissau. The study is based on ten weeks of fieldwork during and after the 2009 presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau. Methods used were semi-structured interviews and participant observations with Bissau-Guineans, representatives of international organisations, diplomats and journalists. The international interlocutors tended to underline the importance of well-performed elections, while at the same time they rejected the idea of a causal relationship between elections and democracy. The Bissau-Guineans emphasised the importance of establishing peace before elections, due to the fact that peace was a prerequisite for democracy, however, they believed that well performed elections would contribute to democracy.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Guðrún Helga Jóhannsdóttir 1978-"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Háskóli Íslands"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-01-14","date_published":"2011-01-14","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:43:28Z","subjects":["Þróunarfræði","Gínea-Bissá","Forsetakosningar","Lýðræði"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1946/7299","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Háskóli Íslands"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Guðrún Helga Jóhannsdóttir 1978-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2011-01-14T10:08:31Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-01-14T10:08:31Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2011-01-14"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Þróunarfræði","Gínea-Bissá","Forsetakosningar","Lýðræði"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1946/7299"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["During the past decades international election observation and active international presence has increasingly become a trend in low-income countries, emphasising the importance of multi-party elections and democracy. Endorsed by academics it is argued that elections play several roles in rebuilding post-conflict societies. This has however not proven to be the case in many African countries; where post-conflict elections have been a source of tension and discontent. Influenced by realism some argue the increased interest of the international community is due to fear of spill-over affects. The aim of the study is to examine the opinions of the international community in Bissau and Bissau-Guineans on the countries’ ability to perform elections, as well as their views on post-conflict elections, their contribution to peace and democracy and the motives behind the international community´s presence in Guinea-Bissau. The study is based on ten weeks of fieldwork during and after the 2009 presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau. Methods used were semi-structured interviews and participant observations with Bissau-Guineans, representatives of international organisations, diplomats and journalists. The international interlocutors tended to underline the importance of well-performed elections, while at the same time they rejected the idea of a causal relationship between elections and democracy. The Bissau-Guineans emphasised the importance of establishing peace before elections, due to the fact that peace was a prerequisite for democracy, however, they believed that well performed elections would contribute to democracy.","Undanfarna áratugi hefur alþjóðlegt kosningaeftirlit og virk alþjóðleg þátttaka færst í aukana í þróunarlöndum, lögð hefur verið áhersla á mikilvægi kosninga og lýðræðis. Fræðimenn hafa stutt þau rök að kosningar gegni mismunandi hlutverkum í enduruppbyggingu samfélaga eftir átök. Það hefur þó ekki verið raunin í mörgum Afríkulöndum, þá sérstaklega í ljósi þess að kosningar hafa stundum reynst uppspretta spennu og óánægju. Aðrir hafa haldið því fram, í anda realisma, að hinn aukni áhugi alþjóðasamfélagsins sé vegna hræðslunnar við þau margföldunar áhrif sem það gæti haft í för með sér. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar er að kanna sjónarmið alþjóðasamfélagsins í Bissá og Bissá-Gínea á getu þjóðarinnar til að framkvæma kosningar, einnig viðhorf þeirra til kosninga að átökum loknum, framlags þeirra til friðar og lýðræðis og hvaða hvatir liggja að baki veru alþjóðarsamfélagsins í Gíneu-Bissá. Rannsóknin byggir á tíu vikna gagnaöflun á vettvangi þegar forsetakosningar stóðu yfir í Gíneu-Bissá árið 2009 og í kjölfar þeirra. Gagna var aflað með viðtölum og þátttökuathugunum. Þátttakendur voru Bissá-Gínear, fulltrúar alþjóðastofnana, diplómatar og blaðamenn. Alþjóðlegir viðmælendur höfðu tilhneigingu til að undirstrika mikilvægi kosningaskipulagsins, þ.e. að framkvæmdin væri góð, á sama tíma og þeir töldu ekki vera orsakasamband á milli kosninga og lýðræðis. Bissá-Gínear lögðu áherslu á að koma á friði fyrir kosningarnar en trúðu samt sem áður á mikilvægi vel skipulagðra kosninga fyrir lýðræði."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Can they do any better? Elections in Guinea-Bissau"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Háskóli Íslands"],"dc:creator":["Guðrún Helga Jóhannsdóttir 1978-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2011-01-14T10:08:31Z"],"dc:date.available":["2011-01-14T10:08:31Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2011-01-14"],"dc:description.abstract":["During the past decades international election observation and active international presence has increasingly become a trend in low-income countries, emphasising the importance of multi-party elections and democracy. Endorsed by academics it is argued that elections play several roles in rebuilding post-conflict societies. This has however not proven to be the case in many African countries; where post-conflict elections have been a source of tension and discontent. Influenced by realism some argue the increased interest of the international community is due to fear of spill-over affects. The aim of the study is to examine the opinions of the international community in Bissau and Bissau-Guineans on the countries’ ability to perform elections, as well as their views on post-conflict elections, their contribution to peace and democracy and the motives behind the international community´s presence in Guinea-Bissau. The study is based on ten weeks of fieldwork during and after the 2009 presidential elections in Guinea-Bissau. Methods used were semi-structured interviews and participant observations with Bissau-Guineans, representatives of international organisations, diplomats and journalists. The international interlocutors tended to underline the importance of well-performed elections, while at the same time they rejected the idea of a causal relationship between elections and democracy. The Bissau-Guineans emphasised the importance of establishing peace before elections, due to the fact that peace was a prerequisite for democracy, however, they believed that well performed elections would contribute to democracy.","Undanfarna áratugi hefur alþjóðlegt kosningaeftirlit og virk alþjóðleg þátttaka færst í aukana í þróunarlöndum, lögð hefur verið áhersla á mikilvægi kosninga og lýðræðis. Fræðimenn hafa stutt þau rök að kosningar gegni mismunandi hlutverkum í enduruppbyggingu samfélaga eftir átök. Það hefur þó ekki verið raunin í mörgum Afríkulöndum, þá sérstaklega í ljósi þess að kosningar hafa stundum reynst uppspretta spennu og óánægju. Aðrir hafa haldið því fram, í anda realisma, að hinn aukni áhugi alþjóðasamfélagsins sé vegna hræðslunnar við þau margföldunar áhrif sem það gæti haft í för með sér. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar er að kanna sjónarmið alþjóðasamfélagsins í Bissá og Bissá-Gínea á getu þjóðarinnar til að framkvæma kosningar, einnig viðhorf þeirra til kosninga að átökum loknum, framlags þeirra til friðar og lýðræðis og hvaða hvatir liggja að baki veru alþjóðarsamfélagsins í Gíneu-Bissá. Rannsóknin byggir á tíu vikna gagnaöflun á vettvangi þegar forsetakosningar stóðu yfir í Gíneu-Bissá árið 2009 og í kjölfar þeirra. Gagna var aflað með viðtölum og þátttökuathugunum. Þátttakendur voru Bissá-Gínear, fulltrúar alþjóðastofnana, diplómatar og blaðamenn. Alþjóðlegir viðmælendur höfðu tilhneigingu til að undirstrika mikilvægi kosningaskipulagsins, þ.e. að framkvæmdin væri góð, á sama tíma og þeir töldu ekki vera orsakasamband á milli kosninga og lýðræðis. Bissá-Gínear lögðu áherslu á að koma á friði fyrir kosningarnar en trúðu samt sem áður á mikilvægi vel skipulagðra kosninga fyrir lýðræði."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1946/7299"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["Þróunarfræði","Gínea-Bissá","Forsetakosningar","Lýðræði"],"dc:title":["Can they do any better? Elections in Guinea-Bissau"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:43:28Z"}