Civil Society and Electoral Accountability in Latin America

What is the role of civic associations in generating electoral accountability and how do efforts by national groups to ensure free and fair elections advance democratic consolidation? Although it is widely recognized that democratic consolidation depends on national actors, the existing literature on election monitoring focuses almost exclusively on the work of international monitors. Domestic monitors, the actors arguably most critical to long-term democratic consolidation, are missing from this analysis. The book's main theoretical contribution is an argument for expanding our understanding of electoral accountability. Lean advances our understanding of when and how civic activism can strengthen election processes, and provides new insight into role of elections for democratic consolidation.

Sharon F. Lean is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She is co-editor of Promoting Democracy in the Americas (2007). Since 1996, she has observed various elections in Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Venezuela, and Liberia in collaboration with domestic and international election monitoring organizations.

Civil Society and Electoral Accountability Election Monitoring in Latin America Civil Society and Electoral Accountability in Mexico Civil Society and Electoral Accountability in Venezuela Regional Networking for Electoral AccountabilityCivil Society and Electoral Accountability: Lessons from Latin America