Lesotho's 2015 legislative election : providing or undermining stability?
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Date
Authors
Banerjee, Vasabjit
Rich, Timothy S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sage
Abstract
Political unrest in 2014 threatened Lesotho’s newly found democratic stability. Observers focus on educating the public about the electoral system and encouraging pre-election coalition discussions. However, this analysis suggests that such remedies ignore the institutional influences of Lesotho’s electoral system that undermine both public understanding and stability. Furthermore, a statistical analysis of district competition finds the 2015 elections to be largely consistent with previous elections, but that the percentage of rejected ballots correlates with a district victory for the largest party. Although this may simply be a statistical anomaly, the findings highlight structural challenges and reconsideration of electoral reforms.
Description
Keywords
Lesotho, Mixed member system, Political stability, Electoral reform, District competition, Electoral systems, Politics
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Banerjee, V. & Rich, T.S. 2017, 'Lesotho's 2015 legislative election : providing or undermining stability?', Journal of Asian and African Studies, vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 586-597.