The Rise of Election Monitoring: What Makes Elections Free and Fair?

Jørgen Elklit is professor of political science at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has worked as a consultant on election and democratization issues in Africa, Asia, and Europe. He was a member of South Africa’s 1994 Independent Electoral Commission and Secretary to Kenya’s 2008 Commission of Inquiry.

Palle Svensson is associate professor of political science at the University of Aarhus and has advised on and monitored elections in African countries. An earlier version of this essay was presented at the Nordic Political Science Association’s Triennial Conference in Helsinki in August 1996.