INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS The Role of Elections in Emerging Democracies and Post-Conflict Countries Key Issues, Lessons Learned and Dilemmas WINRICH KÜHNE August 2010 n Elections have become a major factor in the stabilisation and democratisation of emerging democracies and post-conflict countries. More than a dozen such elections will take place in 2010 and early 2011. However, the risk of a relapse into war and violence is considerable. Elections in these countries are a tightrope walk between war and peace, stability and instability. n But there is no iron law according to which elections are doomed to fail. There have been a number of success stories in the past two decades. Such elections can be conducted successfully if important lessons are taken seriously and implemented. Apart from the difficult issues of timing and the choice of an electoral system properly tailored to local conditions, the establishment of an independent, well functioning Election Commission and an Election Complaints System are crucial elements for success. n The international community – and in particular the Western countries – more often than not have failed to insist on the implementation of these elements, despite their resounding rhetoric on the need for democracy and free and fair elections. They should do better and take more seriously the notion that, for the local population, these elements, in particular the existence of an effective and independent Election Commission and an Election Complaints System, are unmistakable indicators of the credibility of the electoral undertaking. Politicians and diplomats should not forget the lessons of the presidential elections in Afghanistan in autumn 2009, which were a near-disaster in this regard.