IMPROVING ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT: THE ORGANISATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF ELECTORAL INTEGRITY

In their research, Dr. Toby S. James and Mrs. Leontine Loeber delve into the factors influencing electoral integrity with a focus on organisational determinants. This study, conducted at the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language, and Communication Studies at the University of East Anglia, sheds light on ways to enhance the management of elections for improved integrity.

• Electoral integrity
• Organisational determinants
• Electoral management
• Research study
• University

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1. IMPROVING ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT: THE ORGANISATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF ELECTORAL INTEGRITY Dr. Toby S. James and Mrs Leontine Loeber School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies University of East Anglia www.tobysjames.com t.s.james@uea.ac.uk

2. Overview 1. Who are we? 2. What we know about Electoral Management Boards 3. The proposal: a survey of personnel 4. How this can help Electoral Management Boards 5. Our request for help 2

3. Who are we? Senior Lecturer, University of East Anglia, UK www.electoralmanagement.com Dr. Toby James PhD Candidate, University of East Anglia, UK Leontine Loeber PhD Candidate, McGill University, Canada Holly Ann Garnett Lecturer, University New South Wales, Australia Dr. Carolien van Ham Senior Lecturer, Newcastle University, UK. Dr. Alistair Clark 3

4. VARIATION IN ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT BOARD PERFORMANCE While many elections are conducted across the world to very high standards, it is an enormous logistical task. It is no surprise that there is variation in the quality of electoral management board delivery. Electoral Authorities performance (2013-5) and GDP per capita (2011). Source: Author based on Perceptions of Electoral Integrity Database

5. WHAT DO WE KNOW? What works? Independence (Birch, 2013, Norris, 2015, van Ham and Lindberg, 2015) Use of performance monitoring (James, 2013) Funding (Clark 2014, James 2014) New challenges (James, 2014) Limited data on EMBS: International IDEA classifications Surveys of electoral officials in the UK and USA, but no cross- national comparisons. 5

6. EXPLAINING ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE EMB institutional design EMB performance Capacity Personnel and Management Tools Network structure Autonomy Outcomes Impartiality Transparency Efficiency Election integrity Citizen confidence in elections Political actors confidence in elections Legitimacy The following might be important: Capacity. What resources do EMBs have? Where are the resources spent Personnel and management. How long have staff been in their post? What qualifications and training do they have? Job satisfaction? Autonomy. To what extent are EMBs formally independent of government?

7. Our proposal Two surveys 1. A structural survey of one senior official in each EMB: The organisational design of the EMB The volume of staff The tasks and responsibilities of the EMB The decision making process within the EMB The budget and resources of the EMB The EMBs involvement with the international community 2. An online survey of all personnel, to identify: Role within the EMB Perceptions of the quality of elections in their own country Perceptions of the human resource practices and their workplace Training and professional development Demographic information

8. WHAT WE PROVIDE EMBS A free, electronic policy report with recommendations for best practice for all EMBs Bespoke, confidential advice will be offered to partner EMBs on request. Presentations at subsequent Conferences of the European Electoral Management Bodies 8

9. THE HELP WE NEED We kindly request that each European EMB: Nominates a survey facilitator within their organisation to circulate an online link to the survey. Nominates one senior individual to complete the structural survey. Assist and advise on survey translation, where necessary. 9

10. NEXT STEPS Jan 2016: Piloting of survey technology and method in the UK Apr 2016: Feedback welcome May 2016: Survey facilitator nomination Jun-Dec 2016: Survey circulation Early 2017: Analysis and Write up 10

11. FEEDBACK WELCOME What do you think about the survey questions? Can you foresee any potential problems? Should we release the anonymised data (our inclination is not to). My email: t.s.james@uea.ac.uk 11

12. Select References Birch, Sarah. 2011. Electoral Malpractice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Clark, Alistair. 2014. "Investing in Electoral Integrity." In Advancing Electoral Integrity, edited by Pippa Norris, Richard Frank and Ferran Matinez I Coma. New York: Oxford University Press. Garnett, Holly Ann. 2014. "Election Management Bodies, Confidence and Voter Turnout. Paper prepared for 2014 pre-IPSA Workshop Citizens, Parties, and Electoral Contexts, Montreal. James, Toby S. 2013. "Fixing failures of U.K. electoral management." Electoral Studies, 32, (4), p. 597-608. James, Toby S. 2014. "Electoral Management in Britain." In Advancing Electoral Integrity, edited by Pippa Norris, Richard Frank and Ferran Matinez I Coma. New York: Oxford University Press. James, Toby S. forthcoming. Comparative Electoral Management: Performance, Networks and Instruments. London and New York: Routledge. Norris, Pippa. 2015. Why Elections Fail. New York: Cambridge University Press. van Ham, Carolien, and Staffan Lindberg. 2015. "When Guardians Matter Most: Exploring the Conditions Under Which Electoral Management Body Institutional Design Affects Election Integrity." Irish Political Studies, 30, (4), p. 454-81. 12

13. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING 13