The Electoral Integrity Project and WFD are pleased to announce a significant three-day online workshop examining electoral reform and democratic practices globally.
Election quality varies enormously around the world. Given concerns about global democratic backsliding, the issue of how to improve and protect election quality is a pressing policy problem. Passing reforms to improve the quality of elections, however, has often proved difficult to achieve. Incumbent governments may be reluctant to reform the rules which brought them to power. Should they have a majority in the legislature, they may seek to pass reforms which make it easier for them to win in the future, potentially further causing election quality to decline. Electoral reform may also struggle to appear on the policy agenda ahead of issues such as the economy, law and order or education. Governments may also be unfairly criticised for ‘rigging’ the electoral process by sceptical publics – when their proposals might be beneficial for electoral integrity.