Publication details
Transnationalisation potential of electoral violence in Burundi
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of African Elections |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.eisa.org.za/pdf/JAE16.1Homolkova.pdf |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.20940/JAE/2017/v16i1a6 |
| Keywords | electoral violence; transnationalisation; Burundi; Great Lakes region |
| Description | Scholars have documented a correlation between different transnational factors and players, and a changing dynamics of civil war leading to the spillover of conflict from one country to another. The effects of diffusion and escalation are the primary causes of the transnationalisation of war. This paper considers whether electoral violence is also prone to these effects and therefore to the transnationalisation phenomenon. Electoral violence carries certain features that distinguish it from general political violence. It relates specifically to electoral events, with motives and timing being the determining factors. Firstly, the article demonstrates that electoral violence prevailed over political violence in the first phases of the 2015 internal conflict in Burundi. Secondly, it shows that there is a potential transnationalisation of electoral violence in the Great Lakes region. This is due to similar regional characteristics and goals of the incumbents, the similar nature of state institutions, and regional linkages among like-minded political groups. |