Professor highlights the intricacies of elections in emerging democracies

A UNC political science professor spoke to students Wednesday about electoral politics in nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and other recent democracies to raise awareness about international voting issues.

Andrew Reynolds has worked for the United Nations, the U.S. State Department and several other international and national political organizations.

The speech was sponsored by the United Nations Organization of UNC as part of a weeklong celebration of United Nations Day, which is Sunday.

Reynolds drew examples from his most recent reports on election preparations in Afghanistan and experiences as an adviser on constitutional issues for Iraq.

"The process of allowing people to choose their leaders is a fundamental human right we should never back away from," he said.

But Reynolds stressed the difficulty facing many nations in instituting democracy, often citing humorous examples that invoked the audience's laughter.

He mentioned that in Sudan, it used to be the practice of voters to physically line up behind the candidate of their choice.

"It's not surprising that holding elections is a learning process, and we shouldn't expect it to be supreme," Reynolds said. "There's a learning curve of different ways to do different things."

Throughout his discussion, Reynolds used the extended metaphor of a doctor treating an ailing patient to examine democracy around the world.

"Elections are held before the patient is stable for survival; there is a rush for surgery," he said.

When elections are held too quickly, before the climate is ready, as he said is probably true in Afghanistan, the results can be detrimental to the overall implementation of democracy.

"You definitely want to hold elections as soon as you possibly can, but you don't want to hold them when they create more problems."

Reynolds pointed out that there needs to be time for political parties to grow, roads to be built and a civil society to develop, among other things.

"There needs to be a climate where people feel they can talk freely and vote freely."

Another pattern he said doesn't seem to be ending is "discharging patients before they can even stand up." Outside aid frequently withdraws its support from new democracies before these countries have the capability to fully govern themselves.

"As soon as the election is held in Iraq, everyone will be scrambling to get out," Reynolds said.

If countries maintain their support after the initial elections, he said this would not be controlling the country, but providing education and the capacity to manage its own elections.

Without continued assistance, the pattern has been for second elections to fail because of a lack of funding. In turn, the country falls susceptible again to an authoritarian regime.

The issues faced by these new democracies are above just the political level. Reynolds said there are "medical limits to what elections and democracy can do."

He added that work must be done on both political and nonpolitical institutions, stressing the importance of a civil society that builds communication among different ethnic groups.

Citing the issues surrounding terrorists and drugs, he emphasized that what happens in these nations affects American political interests and urged people to take an interest in these countries' political endeavors.

At the end of his speech, Reynolds fielded several questions from the audience members.

"We hear a lot of buzz words, but he is able to bring you into the issue," said Jen Mullins, co-chairwoman of the Model United Nations team. "You definitely can't separate yourself from these issues when you hear about it firsthand."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.