The Role of Political Parties in Electoral Governance: Delegation and the Quality of Elections in Latin America

Abstract

Abstract How does electoral governance affect the quality of elections? This article compares legislative elections in Latin America since re-democratization to verify the relationship between the models of electoral governance and the quality of elections. The logit panel analysis runs on an original dataset on electoral institutions to find that among other features of electoral governance, the delegation to non-partisan actors plays a critical role, being associated with institutional environments with no concerns about the fairness of elections. On the other hand, when political parties manage electoral competition, there is a greater likelihood of concerns about the fairness of the elections.