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Violence, bribery, and fraud: the political economy of elections in Sub-Saharan Africa

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  • Paul Collier
  • Pedro Vicente

Abstract

Post-Soviet African democratization has introduced elections into contexts that often lack restraints upon the behavior of candidates, resulting in the emergence of voter intimidation, vote-buying, and ballot fraud. We propose a model of electoral competition where, although some voters oppose violence, it is effective in intimidating swing voters. We show that in equilibrium a weak challenger will use violence, which corresponds to a terrorism strategy. Similarly, a nationally weak incumbent will use repression. However, a stronger incumbent facing local competition will prefer to use bribery or ballot fraud. We discuss the applicability of the model to several African elections. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Collier & Pedro Vicente, 2012. "Violence, bribery, and fraud: the political economy of elections in Sub-Saharan Africa," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 117-147, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:153:y:2012:i:1:p:117-147
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-011-9777-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Violence; Fraud; Vote-buying; Electoral politics; Political economy; Sub-Saharan Africa; D72; O55; P16;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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