The Forging of Institutional Autonomy
A Comparative Study of Electoral Management Commissions in Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6236381 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mamoudou Gazibo (Université de Montréal, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 611-633 |
| Publication date | 2006-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Canadian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4239 • E-ISSN: 1744-9324 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008423906060239 |
| OpenAlex | W2156157827 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 53 |
Building upon the theoretical framework of new-institutionalism, this article concentrates on electoral management commissions (EMCs), which, though theraison d'êtreof political battles in many African countries, have attracted very little analysis in academic literature. The sample includes seven countries and I concentrate on the issue of forging institutional autonomy. I propose five modes of institutional forging that produce different levels of autonomy. At the same time, I argue that autonomy refers less to legal provisions than to the empiricalself-reinforcingandlock-inprocesses, which may or may not take place depending onpower relationsin the political arena. In turn, however, these differences may explain the contrasting trajectories African states have takenvis-à-visdemocratization.Résumé.Alors qu'elles sont au cœur des luttes politiques dans plusieurs pays africains, les commissions électorales sont peu étudiées dans la littérature sur la démocratisation. Cet article utilise un cadre théorique néo-institutionnel pour analyser les commissions de sept pays en se concentrant spécifiquement sur la question de l'autonomie institutionnelle. Il met à jour cinq modes de création institutionnelle correspondant à différents niveaux d'autonomie qui, en retour, expliquent les trajectoires divergentes des pays en matière de démocratisation. L'autonomie est à rechercher moins dans les prérogatives juridiques que dans les rapports de forces entre acteurs au moment de l'émergence de l'institution et dans les processus subséquents d'autoreproduction institutionnelle
Autonomy · Democracy · Democratization · Humanities · Institutional change · Political science · Politics · Sociology · International Development and Aid · Law · Philosophy · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies
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| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,89 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2024 (17) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |