Electoral Violence in Democratisation : Electoral Violence by Incumbents against the Opposition and its Effects on Democratisation

Abstract: Elections are a core democratic process in the world to ensure a peaceful transition of power between governing actors, yet it is too often the case that violence is employed to disturb the democratic process. Incumbents’ use of violence in order to maintain power and control over the procedure has become common as political violence and autocratisation has seen an upsurge in recent years. There is a lack of previous research in how electoral violence perpetrated by incumbents against the opposition affects democratisation. This thesis aims to fill the gap and analyse the proposed relationship. Based on previous theories on the topic I suggest that electoral violence by incumbents against the opposition negatively affects democratisation. Using a time span of 1974-2018 in a quantitative analysis the results support the hypothesis. This outcome is of relevance to the future literature of electoral violence as well as policy makers looking to understand how the consequences of electoral violence fits into the greater picture of democratic consolidation.