Lesotho's 2015 legislative election : providing or undermining stability?

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Authors

Banerjee, Vasabjit
Rich, Timothy S.

Journal Title

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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.

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Keywords

Lesotho, Mixed member system, Political stability, Electoral reform, District competition, Electoral systems, Politics

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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.