Cancelled Contests: Mediating Election Disputes Through Institutions

Contention over power is a central feature of politics. In democracies, much of this occurs through elections. However, the procedures comprising elections are not infallible. Relatively little political science scholarship specifically addresses the resolution of disputes related to the conduct of elections. This dissertation examines the different ways in which states resolve election disputes, seeking to establish relationships between institutional design and the effectiveness of the overall dispute resolution process. Institutional design for dispute resolution is a complex issue because on the one hand states need an accessible way to resolve these disputes, as democratic elections naturally engender conflict, but on the other hand, a system confronted with too many disputes and canceled elections is likely to encounter legitimacy problems. Also related to the issue of legitimacy, the institution tasked with mediating these thorny conflicts must be broadly trusted by a range of political actors, otherwise its ability to deliver effective dispute resolution is compromised. Is there an overarching institutional solution to this problem? What are the consequences of different types of institutional variation? I use a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to begin to address these issues, beginning with a cross-national analysis relying on survey data related to electoral disputes and challenges, followed by an in-depth analysis of actual election disputes filed in France and Germany. I find that there does not appear to be a simple institutional solution to this problem that will work in every situation, but that regardless of the overall type of institution deciding the issue, accessibility plays a large role in its effectiveness. Importantly, I also demonstrate the utility of directly engaging with the dispute record to assess the functionality of a given dispute resolution system.PhDPolitical ScienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/176630/1/jrklav_1.pd