Since the Cold War, more and more nations have held elections that may be highly competitive — but still don’t meet the minimum standards for being free, fair and democratic. The 2016 U.S. presidential election included some of the same violations of democratic norms and procedures often found in fragile democracies and “competitive authoritarian” regimes. As researchers of such regimes, we considered whether the election passed democratic muster.
Elections may come up short in either of two ways: through procedural abuses, and through violations of substantive norms of democratic fair play. We find both types of problems in the 2016 U.S. election, as we examine below. CONT.
Dan Slater (U. of Chicago) & Lucan Ahmad Way (U. of Toronto), The Monkey Cage