Changing the rules to win the game again

Does Presidential Term-Limit Evasion Affect Measures of Electoral Integrity

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6252970
AutoresIan Rebouças Batista (0000-0002-6126-729X, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, autor de correspondencia), Ian Batista (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco), Marcella H Morris (Emory University), Marcella Morris (Emory University), David Carroll (0000-0002-1445-077X, The Carter Center), David J Carroll (0000-0002-1334-3518, Carter Center), Anthony J Demattee (0000-0001-7946-7831, The Carter Center), Anthony Demattee
Año2025
Volumen32
Número2
Páginas397-419
Fecha de publicación2025-02-17
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510347.2024.2373916
OpenAlexW4400650554
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas55

Presidential term-limit evasion (TLE) is inconsistent with international human rights, and researchers have linked the practice to democratic backsliding. Yet, this practice has much to uncover, including how different TLE tactics (constitutional court ruling, legislative change, referendum) influence electoral integrity. We expect the increase in the incumbent advantage and the imbalance in the separation of powers obtained through TLE to affect the integrity of the subsequent elections in which the evading leader is running. To test this, we analyse an original dataset of 414 presidential terms in 63 African and Latin American countries (1988–2019), using mixed-effects models to investigate each tactic's effect on different electoral measures, including overall quality perception, Electoral Management Body Autonomy, election day irregularities, vote buying, and intimidation. We confirm our expectations, further finding that the court mode specifically consistently precedes the worst effects on electoral quality, EMB Autonomy, irregularities, intimidation, and voter registry accuracy

Affect (linguistics · Economics · Evasion (ethics · Law and economics · Limit (mathematics · Physics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Presidential election · Presidential system · Term (time · Communication · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Mathematics · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology