Post Election Protests and their Consequences.

In recent years, elections have sparked mass demonstrations in a range of developing countries from Ukraine, to Mexico, to Zimbabwe. When political parties take to the streets to protest the results or conduct of an election should we have hope for democratic progress, or do such actions have dangerous consequences for fragile democracies? This paper examines the consequences of election-related protests for political stability. First, the immediate consequences of post-election protest are investigated, in terms of violence, international reactions, and immediate government responses. Next, the potential for post-election protest to lead to democratic interruption, regime breakdown, or some sort of democratic compromise is assessed. First establishing the causes of election-related protest, allows the employment of a matching method so that instances of post-election protest are compared to similar cases where protest did not occur. This method has the advantage of addressing some of the problems of endogeniety inherent to the causes and consequences of protest. Based on this matching method, the consequences of post-election protest are mixed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]