This groundbreaking collection offers the first book-length contribution to ongoing debates around how election observation can best support genuine democratic elections in Africa.
In a three-part structure covering international observers, their domestic counterparts, and the consequences of observation, the chapters of Election Observation at a Crossroads draw on a range of methodologies rooted in deep, field-based research to offer detailed looks at election observation in ten African countries. All of this is articulated by predominantly African country-experts hailing from a variety of disciplinary and professional backgrounds, all of whom are gathered together by Thomas Molony, one of very few academics with extensive work experience of election observation in Africa.
This variety of coverage and perspectives, combined with the book’s various methodologies, sheds new light on concerning shifts in the relationship between African organisations and their Western counterparts, on questions over the credibility and independence of citizen observation groups, and on assumptions about the influence of election observation on democracy in Africa. Cumulatively, these insights add up to important, unique contributions to ongoing debates about the neo-imperial dimensions of international election observation, not just within Africa, but also in other parts of the Global South.
For its sole focus on Africa, its broad geographical coverage within Africa, and its significance for wider debates around international election observation, Election Observation at a Crossroads: Perspectives from Africa is a must-read for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in African politics and development, as well as for those interested in African studies, development, and politics and international relations more generally.
Edited by:
Thomas Molony
Imprint: Zed Books Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 236mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 20mm
Weight: 1.060kg
ISBN: 9781350439429
ISBN 10: 1350439428
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 16 October 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction,Thomas Molony Part 1. International Election Observation 1. Shifting Dynamics: The politics of election observation Anna Mwaba, Assistant Professor of Government, Smith College, USA 2. Diplomatic Relations and International Election Observation: The case of Zimbabwe 2000-2018 Kgalalelo Nganje, Elections Officer, Botswana Independent Electoral Commission, Botswana 3. Africa’s Elections and the Need for Reconceptualising the International Election Observation Paradigm: From adhocism to institutionalisation Koffi Sawyer, Doctoral researcher, School of Government, University of Birmingham, UK 4. International Election Observation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Elections: Exploring the past to shape the future Cedrick Mulumba, Research Fellow, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Australia Part 2. Citizen Election Observation 5. The Gatekeeping of Election Legitimacy: Reviewing the election observation architecture in Africa using the 2023 Nigerian elections as a case study Afolabi Adekaiyaoja, Research Analyst, Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa, Nigeria 6. “I Have Changed so That Angola May Change”: Citizen election observers in post-war authoritarian Angola Claudia Generoso de Almeida, Research Fellow, IPRI-NOVA, New University of Lisbon, Portugal 7. Domestic Observation Missions and Kenya's 2022 Elections: BOGs, COGs or FOGs? Thomas Molony, Senior Lecturer, Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK Part 3. The Influence of Election Observation 8. Election Observation Statements and Domestic Perceptions of Fraud and Violence in Kenya’s 2022 Elections Morgan Wack, PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of Washington, USA 9. Do Election Observer Statements Influence Public Opinion?: A case study of Zambia Robert Macdonald, Research Fellow, Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK 10. Understanding the Implementation of Election Observation Recommendations in Sub-Saharan Africa Eloïse Bertrand, Research Fellow, Centre for European and International Studies Research, University of Portsmouth, UK; Susan Dodsworth, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of International Development, University of Birmingham, UK; Jamie Hitchen, Canada-based independent researcher
Thomas Molony is Senior Lecturer in African Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is co-editor of Social Media and Politics in Africa: Democracy, Censorship and Security (Zed, 2019).
Reviews for Election Observation at a Crossroads: Perspectives from Africa
While paradoxical, the importance of elections and election observation is attested by the fact that even autocrats (and their shadowy backers) desire to legitimize themselves through bogus elections and rented election observers. This is but one important area, among many others, that this essential volume raises. All persons concerned with African elections must discuss and embrace the crucial issues about electoral integrity that are raised in this valuable book. * Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Former Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Ghana * Although election observation has become an enduring norm in African elections, key questions remain unanswered regarding who observes, how observation is practiced, and what democratic effects it produces. Election Observation at a Crossroadsoffers the first sustained, book-length analysis of these issues.Structured into three sections: international observation, domestic monitoring, and the broader democratic consequences of observation, the volume features 11 contributions, from mainly African scholars and practitioners. Drawing on impressive field research across ten African countries and range of methodological and analytical approaches, these contributors interrogate core debates and issues, including the credibility of observers, the interplay between domestic and international missions, and the role of observation in shaping information environments during elections.The volume provides a timely intervention into debates on trust in elections, democratic accountability, and the geopolitical dimensions of democracy promotion. It is an essential resource for scholars and practitioners of African politics, elections, and international democratic governance. * Dr Nicholas Kerr, associate professor of comparative politics, University of Florida, USA * Election Observation at a Crossroads: Perspectives from Africa is an important and very timely book. It dissects the concept and practice of electoral observation as a fundamental tool for electoral accountability worldwide and in Africa in particular. The different chapters substantively articulate the challenges and opportunities for democracy promotion in Africa through the deployment of election observers for critical electoral processes. As a long-term promoter of peace and democracy in Africa and having Chaired the ECOWAS election observation mission to Senegal’s seminal elections in 2024, I find the book refreshing, instructive and thought-provoking.In this book, Dr. Molony has established key themes with vigour and also tightly edited the excellent supporting chapters, thus demonstrating his expertise as a first-class researcher through huge empirical efforts. In doing so, this fresh collection intimates the need for a paradigm shift which addresses key challenges which election observation faces as a political and electoral accountability tool especially in the current era when democracy is under serious strains and stresses in Africa and the world as a whole.I highly recommend it to academics, students, practitioners, election officials, politicians and international institutions that are engaged in democracy promotion in general and electoral assistancein particular. * Ibrahim Gambari, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria *
