Kevin Pallister – författare

Democratic countries vary widely in the extent to which the administration of the electoral process facilitates voter participation, showing a great deal of variation in everything from voter registration to the casting of ballots.This book is the first systematic study to investigate why it is easier to vote in some democracies than in others. It develops the concept of election administration inclusiveness, which considers all of the administrative requirements and procedures that a citizen confronts in exercising his or her right to vote. It then draws on in-depth case studies from Central America and data from Latin America more broadly to address how political parties and other actors interact in constructing election administration rules and procedures. Using a theoretical framework centred on electoral threat, party capacity, and electoral management body composition, the author identifies multiple pathways to inclusive and restrictive election administration. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of elections, democracy studies, Latin American politics, and more broadly comparative politics and law.

Democratic countries vary widely in the extent to which the administration of the electoral process facilitates voter participation, showing a great deal of variation in everything from voter registration to the casting of ballots.This book is the first systematic study to investigate why it is easier to vote in some democracies than in others. It develops the concept of election administration inclusiveness, which considers all of the administrative requirements and procedures that a citizen confronts in exercising his or her right to vote. It then draws on in-depth case studies from Central America and data from Latin America more broadly to address how political parties and other actors interact in constructing election administration rules and procedures. Using a theoretical framework centred on electoral threat, party capacity, and electoral management body composition, the author identifies multiple pathways to inclusive and restrictive election administration. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of elections, democracy studies, Latin American politics, and more broadly comparative politics and law.

Even as several Latin American countries have regressed to authoritarian rule in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, elections remain permanent and vital features of the region’s political life. Kevin Pallister provides an accessible overview of elections throughout Latin America, including formal electoral institutions, informal practices, and the behavior of voters and candidates. Through a wide-ranging synthesis of scholarly literature and sources, it offers a descriptive and analytical look at how elections in the region work, from the legal rules of the game to the final counting of the votes, and provides an even-handed discussion of its complexities such as electoral integrity, gender quotas, the role of social media, corruption in campaign finance, and how elections can be instruments of both democracy and autocracy. This comprehensive narrative, from Mexico to Argentina, is complemented with illustrative examples, case studies, and data. By understanding how elections in Latin America work as flawed but indispensable institutions of democracy, students and other readers will enhance their knowledge of contemporary Latin American politics and the important process of democratization in the region.