Electoralism is a term first used by

Terry Karl Terry Lynn Karl (born November 21, 1947) is the Gildred Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. She specializes in comparative politics. Early life and academics Karl was born in St. Louis, ...

, professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, to describe a "half-way" transition from

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

rule toward democratic rule. As a topic in the dominant party system political science literature, electoralism describes a situation in which the transition out of hard-authoritarian rule is initiated and managed by the incumbent regime. However, the dominant position of the incumbent regime throughout the transition process prevents the transition from attaining the institutional qualities of

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

. Other terms, such as guided transition or managed transition have been used to describe this process. Under electoralism, the regime essentially conducts the electoral aspects of democratic governance in a relatively "free and fair" manner. Massive acts of voting fraud and election-day intimidation are essentially absent. However, other features of democracy, such as the

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

and institutional

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

, are absent under electoralism. The entire election process is skewed in favor of the incumbent regime. The media tends to ignore or paint the opposition in a negative light, the high court and election commission tends to make judgements in favor of the incumbent, and on some occasions, opposition rallies are denied or canceled by the police. Some examples include: *

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

after 1992 *

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

after 2002 *

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

after 1991 *

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

between the late 1980s and 2000 *

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

after 1991Rose, Richard & Munro, Neil: Elections Without Order Cambridge University Press, 2002 (p. 42)

References

Giliomee, Herman and Charles Simkins (eds). (1999). The Awkward Embrace: One-Party Domination and Democracy. Overseas Publisher Association. Elections {{polisci-stub