Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Hicks, Barbara
Area of Concentration
Political Science
Abstract
Progress bias has previously been identified as a bias exhibited by election monitors during elections in which transitional steps towards democracy are displayed. This bias has been theorized to be responsible for overshadowing faults and forms of manipulation present during an electoral contest in election monitoring reports due to an overemphasis on the transitional nature of an election. Theoretically, such dismissal of electoral issues may facilitate the development of electoral authoritarian regimes. Yet, this study finds no evidence that progress bias, as previously described, exists. A case study analysis found thorough evidence that monitors assess elections within transitional contexts, but those contexts are not overwhelming the monitors’ assessments of freeness and fairness in their final reports. Furthermore, a data analysis yields some insights on transitional expectations, but cannot support many of the theoretical foundations behind the existence of progress bias.
Recommended Citation
Reid, Harrison, "ELECTION MONITORING: AN EXAMINATION OF PROGRESS BIAS" (2019). Theses & ETDs. 5785.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5785