Electoral integrity is a persistent concern in both established and transitional democracies. Independent Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) have been championed as a key institutional reform measure to strengthen electoral integrity and are now the most common model of electoral management worldwide. Yet, empirical research has found conflicting evidence on the link between formal EMB independence and electoral integrity. We argue that conflicting findings might be driven by the lack of detailed data on EMB institutional design, with most studies using rudimentary classifications of ‘independent’, ‘governmental’ and ‘mixed’ EMBs, without addressing specific dimensions of EMB formal independence such as appointment procedures, budgetary control and formal competences. In this paper we analyse new detailed data on EMB institutional design in 72 countries around the world, develop a more detailed typology of dimensions of de jure EMB independence, and demonstrate how de jure EMB independence affects de facto EMB independence and electoral integrity.
AlvarezR MichaelAtkesonLonna RaeHallThad E (2012) Evaluating Elections: A Handbook of Methods and Standards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2.
AlvarezR MichaelHallThadLlewellynMorgan (2008) Are Americans Confident Their Ballots Are Counted?The Journal of Politics70(3): 754–766.
3.
BirchSarah (2011) Electoral Malpractice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4.
BirchSarahvan HamCarolien (2017) Getting Away with Foul Play? The importance of formal and informal oversight institutions for electoral integrity. European Journal of Political Research56(3): 487–511.
5.
BowlerShaunBrunellThomasDonovanToddGronkePaul (2015) Election Administration and Perceptions of Fair Elections. Electoral Studies38: 1–9.
6.
BuckleyFionaReidyTheresa (2015) Managing the Electoral Process: Insights from, and for, Ireland. Irish Political Studies30(4): 445–453.
7.
CattHelenaEllisAndrewMaleyMichaelWallAlanWolfPeter (2014) Electoral Management Design. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
8.
ClarkAlistair (2015) Public Administration and the Integrity of the Electoral Process in British Elections. Public Administration93(1): 86–102.
ElklitJørgenReynoldsAndrew (2001) Analysing the Impact of Election Administration on Democratic Politics. Representation38(1): 3–10.
11.
ElklitJørgenReynoldsAndrew (2005) Judging Elections and Election Management Quality by Process. Representation41(3): 189–207.
12.
EstévezFedericoMagarEricRosasGuillermo (2008) Partisanship in Non-Partisan Electoral Agencies and Democratic Compliance: Evidence from Mexico’s Federal Electoral Institute. Electoral Studies27(2): 257–271.
13.
FallIsmaila MadiorHounkpeMathiasJinaduAdele LKambalPascal (2011) Election Management Bodies in West Africa: A Comparative Study of the Contribution of Electoral Commissions to the Strengthening of Democracy. Cape Town: African Minds.
14.
FarrellDavid M (2015) Conclusion and Reflection: Time for an electoral commission for Ireland. Irish Political Studies30(4): 641–646.
15.
GarnettHolly Ann (2018) Who Runs Elections? Election Management Body Roles and Responsibilities in Comparative Perspectives, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA.
16.
GaziboMamoudou (2006) The Forging of Institutional Autonomy: A comparative study of electoral management commissions in Africa. Canadian Journal of Political Science39(3): 611–633.
17.
GilardiFabrizioMaggettiMartino (2011) The Independence of Regulatory Authorities. In Levi-FaurDavid (ed.) Handbook on the Politics of Regulation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 201–214.
18.
HanrettyChrisKoopChristel (2013) Shall the Law Set Them Free? The formal and actual independence of regulatory agencies. Regulation & Governance7(2): 195–214.
19.
HartlynJonathanMcCoyJenniferMustilloThomas M (2008) Electoral Governance Matters: Explaining the quality of elections in contemporary Latin America. Comparative Political Studies41(1): 73–98.
20.
HerronErik SBoykoNazarThunbergMichael E (2017) Serving Two Masters: Professionalization versus corruption in Ukraine’s Election Administration. Governance30(4): 601–619.
21.
JamesToby S (2017) The Effects of Centralising Electoral Management Board Design. Policy Studies38(2): 130–148.
22.
KerrNicholas (2014) EMB Performance and African Perceptions of Electoral Integrity. In NorrisPippaFrankRichard Wi ComaFerran Martinez (eds) Advancing Electoral Integrity. New York: Oxford University Press.
23.
LehoucqF (2003) Electoral Fraud: Causes, types, and consequences. Annual Review of Political Science6: 233–256.
24.
López-PintorRafael (2000) Electoral Management Bodies as Institutions of Governance. New York: Bureau for Development Policy, United Nations Development Programme.
25.
Martinez i ComaFerranvan HamCarolien (2015). Can experts judge elections? Testing the validity of expert judgments for measuring election integrity. European Journal of Political Research54(2): 305-325.
26.
MozaffarShaheen (2002) Patterns of Electoral Governance in Africa’s Emerging Democracies. International Political Science Review23(1): 85–101.
27.
MozaffarShaheenSchedlerAndreas (2002) The Comparative Study of Electoral Governance - Introduction. International Political Science Review23(2): 5–27.
28.
NorrisPippa (2015) Why Elections Fail. New York: Cambridge University Press.
OtaolaMiguel Lara (2017) To Include or not to Include? Party representation in electoral institutions and confidence in elections: A comparative study of Latin America. Party Politics24(5): 598–608.
32.
PastorRobert A (1999) The Role of Electoral Administration in Democractic Transitions: Implications for policy and research. Democratization6(4): 1–27.
33.
PemsteinDanielMarquardtKyle L.TzelgovEitanWangYi-tingKrusellJoshuaMiriFarhad. 2018. “The V-Dem Measurement Model: Latent Variable Analysis for Cross-National and Cross-Temporal Expert-Coded Data”. University of Gothenburg, Varieties of Democracy Institute: Working Paper No. 21, 3d edition.
34.
RosasGuillermo (2010) Trust in Elections and the Institutional Design of Electoral Authorities: Evidence from Latin America. Electoral Studies29(1): 74–90.
35.
SchedlerA (2002) The Menu of Manipulation. Journal of Democracy13(2): 36–50.
36.
TrebilcockMichaelChitalkarPoorvi (2009) From Nominal to Substantive Democracy: The Role and Design of Election Management Bodies. The Law and Development Review2(1): 192–224.
37.
UguesAntonioJr (2014) Electoral Management in Central America. In NorrisPippaFrankRichard Wi ComaFerran Martínez (eds) Advancing Electoral Integrity. New York: Oxford University Press.
38.
van AakenAnne (2009) Independent Electoral Management Bodies and International Election Observer Missions: Any impact on the observed level of democracy? A conceptual framework. Constitutional Political Economy20(3): 296–322.
39.
van HamCarolienLindbergStaffan (2015) When Guardians Matter Most: Exploring the conditions under which electoral management body institutional design affects election integrity. Irish Political Studies30(4): 454–481.
40.
WallAlanEllisAndrewAyoubAymanDundasCarl WRukambeJoramStainoSara (2006) Electoral Management Design. The International IDEA Handbook Series. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
