Preventing Electoral Violence in Asia: Tools for Practitioners and Policymakers
Both fragile and established democracies in Asia report various forms of electoral violence, ranging from opposition intimidation in Cambodia, to street protests in Thailand, to extremist attacks against election candidates and facilities in Pakistan. With important elections on the horizon in 2018 and 2019, this course will examine specific examples from cases across the region. Not only do these countries have a history of tense and sometimes volatile elections, but their stability is important to their respective regions and the international community at large. In this course, learners will identify options for violence prevention through effective strategic planning and early intervention.
This 3-day course aims to increase the capacity of practitioners and policymakers to identify triggers of electoral violence and, importantly, to help these actors develop evidence-based strategies to help stem the risk of violence. The design of the course walks through various phases of the election cycle–before, during and after election day–as well as the underutilized time between elections. Making linkages between actual implementation examples from Asia and the unexplored possibilities can help inform international, national and local efforts to promote peaceful elections.