Essay On Electoral Violence

Apart from the studies that looks at the political institutions and actors that sustains the presence of violence in election, the other strand of the literature focuses on the effects of electoral violence. Scholars studying the effects of electoral violence concentrates on the perception of the citizens towards democracy and elections ( Burchard 2015, Birnir & Godhes 2012, Igwe 2012). In reference to Burchard (2015) and Igwe (2012) electoral violence have generally a negative effect on the perception of people towards the concept of democracy. For instance a survey conducted in Nigeria identifies the problems that electoral violence instigate in democracies. The findings of Igwe (2012) shows that the most noticeable effect were the absence of the freedom of citizen to choose who they want to vote in elections.

In another study, Burchard’s (2015) finding suggests that the effects of electoral violence in the attitudes toward democracy is not uniform. According to the author several factors influence the perception of voters towards democracy given the presence of electoral violence. The perception of voters toward a free and fair election and it also depends to the results of election, if the preferred candidates of voter lose or won. Lastly the author also emphasize the role of ethnic support and partisan

A number of it have also shed light on the voter’s perception of voters while concentrating on the effects of electoral violence on democracy. However what these works lack is an in depth analysis that will provide description to why voters view electoral violence as such. In addition, in terms of method, the reviewed studies used a quantitative method of analysis such as surveys and regression. Hence the absence of a deep analysis of perceptions on electoral violence per se and methods are some of the identifiable gaps in the