Protesters during an anti-government demonstration against president Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term. Bujumbura, Burundi. May 2015.
EPA Images
If the violence feared in the aftermath of the election does manifest, it will be because of Congolese society’s commitment to and defence of democracy, not in spite of it.
Last March, demonstrators rallied in front of the Supreme Court before oral arguments on Benisek v. Lamone, a redistricting case.
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
The US has sent troops to countries neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo in anticipation of violence and unrest once the election results are announced.
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station during a runoff presidential election in Bamako, Mali on Aug. 12, 2018.
Reuters/Luc Gnago
Elections are supposed to hold politicians accountable: Officials who fear losing their seat will work harder for voters. But in some countries, political competition actually makes government worse.
Protests against Joseph Kabila staying in power in the DRC.
Alexandros Michailidis/Shutterstock
Garret Martin, American University School of International Service
President Emmanuel Macron has presented himself as a defender of the liberal order against the rising tide of right-wing populism. But he can’t lead Europe while mass protests have France in crisis.
Democracies survive if political norms and traditions are upheld. So the recent actions of GOP legislators in Wisconsin and other states to hamstring incoming Democrats put democracy at risk.
Compiling images from real American politicians with the help of the Victoria Police Criminal Identification Unit, the authors built six “ideal” candidates to test how attractiveness shifts votes.
Rodrigo Praino, Daniel Stockemer/Social Science Quarterly
Research shows that in elections with low information and poor engagement, candidate attractiveness plays a significant role in how people vote.
Election winner, former coup leader, Josaia Voreq “Frank” Bainimarama, speaking at a climate change conference in Germany in November 2017.
Ronald Wittek/EPA
Fijians go to the polls this week in only the second general election since a 2006 coup in which the current prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, seized power. He won an election in 2014.
Luke Foley holds his resignation press conference, in a disaster for Labor as it prepares for an election in just over four months.
Luke Foley was little known among the voting public but seen as doing a competent job against an unpopular government before being forced out as leader over sexual misconduct claims.
Do events like the Global Action Climate Summit raise the profile of politicians like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio?
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
Big city mayors with serious commitments to limiting greenhouse gases did well at the polls on Tuesday.
Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at her midterm election night party in New York City, Nov. 6, 2018.
Reuters/Andrew Kelly
In Iowa, almost 40 percent of residents can’t afford the basic cost of living. That was the setting for the 2018 midterm elections, where rural voters are suffering along with their communities.