Election Observation at a Crossroads - by Thomas Molony (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This groundbreaking collection offers the first book-length contribution to ongoing debates around how election observation can best support genuine democratic elections in Africa.

In a three-part structure covering international observers, their domestic counterparts, and the consequences of observation, the chapters of Election Observation at a Crossroads draw on a range of methodologies rooted in deep, field-based research to offer detailed looks at election observation in ten African countries. All of this is articulated by predominantly African country-experts hailing from a variety of disciplinary and professional backgrounds, all of whom are gathered together by Thomas Molony, one of very few academics with extensive work experience of election observation in Africa.

This variety of coverage and perspectives, combined with the book's various methodologies, sheds new light on concerning shifts in the relationship between African organisations and their Western counterparts, on questions over the credibility and independence of citizen observation groups, and on assumptions about the influence of election observation on democracy in Africa. Cumulatively, these insights add up to important, unique contributions to ongoing debates about the neo-imperial dimensions of international election observation, not just within Africa, but also in other parts of the Global South.

For its sole focus on Africa, its broad geographical coverage within Africa, and its significance for wider debates around international election observation, Election Observation at a Crossroads: Perspectives from Africa is a must-read for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in African politics and development, as well as for those interested in African studies, development, and politics and international relations more generally.

Review Quotes

"While paradoxical, the importance of elections and election observation is attested by the fact that even autocrats (and their shadowy backers) desire to legitimize themselves through bogus elections and rented election observers. This is but one important area, among many others, that this essential volume raises. All persons concerned with African elections must discuss and embrace the crucial issues about electoral integrity that are raised in this valuable book." --Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Former Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana

"Although election observation has become an enduring norm in African elections, key questions remain unanswered regarding who observes, how observation is practiced, and what democratic effects it produces. Election Observation at a Crossroadsoffers the first sustained, book-length analysis of these issues.Structured into three sections: international observation, domestic monitoring, and the broader democratic consequences of observation, the volume features 11 contributions, from mainly African scholars and practitioners. Drawing on impressive field research across ten African countries and range of methodological and analytical approaches, these contributors interrogate core debates and issues, including the credibility of observers, the interplay between domestic and international missions, and the role of observation in shaping information environments during elections.The volume provides a timely intervention into debates on trust in elections, democratic accountability, and the geopolitical dimensions of democracy promotion. It is an essential resource for scholars and practitioners of African politics, elections, and international democratic governance." --Dr Nicholas Kerr, associate professor of comparative politics, University of Florida, USA

"Election Observation at a Crossroads: Perspectives from Africa is an important and very timely book. It dissects the concept and practice of electoral observation as a fundamental tool for electoral accountability worldwide and in Africa in particular. The different chapters substantively articulate the challenges and opportunities for democracy promotion in Africa through the deployment of election observers for critical electoral processes. As a long-term promoter of peace and democracy in Africa and having Chaired the ECOWAS election observation mission to Senegal's seminal elections in 2024, I find the book refreshing, instructive and thought-provoking.In this book, Dr. Molony has established key themes with vigour and also tightly edited the excellent supporting chapters, thus demonstrating his expertise as a first-class researcher through huge empirical efforts. In doing so, this fresh collection intimates the need for a paradigm shift which addresses key challenges which election observation faces as a political and electoral accountability tool especially in the current era when democracy is under serious strains and stresses in Africa and the world as a whole.I highly recommend it to academics, students, practitioners, election officials, politicians and international institutions that are engaged in democracy promotion in general and electoral assistancein particular." --Ibrahim Gambari, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria

About the Author