After decades of experimentation with various forms of dictatorship and autocracy, most sub-Saharan African countries adopted multiparty elections in the 1990s—a development widely celebrated as a sign that the region was moving toward democracy. This embrace of elections, however, has often been accompanied by unanticipated violence, raising important questions: Are violent elections a normal part of the process in new democracies? Does the quality and conduct of elections matter for democratic consolidation? Most fundamentally, what does the persistence of electoral violence mean for the future of democracy in Africa?

Addressing these questions with a combination of rigorous qualitative and quantitative approaches, Stephanie Burchard explores both the causes and consequences of electoral violence in sub-Saharan Africa.

Stephanie M. Burchard is on the research staff of the Africa Program at the Institute for Defense Analyses.