Stuffing the Ballot Box: Fraud, Electoral Reform, and Democratization in Costa Rica

ISBN-13: 9780521810456 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 296 str.

Fabrice E. Lehoucq; Ivan Molina

Opis

This pioneering study of electoral fraud and reform focuses on Costa Rica, a country where parties gradually transformed a fraud-ridden political system into one renowned for stability and fair elections by the mid-twentieth century. Lehoucq and Molina draw upon a unique database of more than 1,300 accusations of ballot-rigging to show that, independently of social structural constraints, parties denounced fraud where electoral laws made the struggle for power more competitive. They explain how institutional arrangements generated opportunities for several executives to assemble legislative coalitions to enact far-reaching reforms.

Recenzje

'… the research is well designed and gives evidence of the authors' detailed study of the evolution of Costa Rican democracy.' Democratization

Spis treści

List of tables and figures; Preface; Introduction; 1. Electoral fraud during indirect and public elections, 1901–12; 2. Institutional change, electoral cycles, and partisanship, 1910–14; 3. Electoral fraud during the public ballot, 1913–23; 4. Institutional change, electoral cycles, and partisanship, 1924–8; 5. Electoral fraud during the secret ballot, 1925–48; 6. Political polarization, electoral reform, and civil war, 1946–9; Conclusion: ballot-rigging and electoral reform in comparative perspective; Index.