Election concepts and definitions

Election

The word "election" is defined in varying ways by different dictionaries. In the political sense, it comes down to a choice made by voters. Voters choose a certain party or person into a certain position. As such, it is generally accepted by dictionaries and democratic countries that an election entails a choice that is made freely by individuals. An election therefore presupposes a democracy. Although many countries profess to have accepted the "free and fair" mode of election required by a democracy, this is not always the case in practice.

In the Ethiopia elections of 2005, several elements are in accord with the accepted definition of a democratic election. 90% of voters were for example attracted to the polls without any evident intimidation to vote for one party or the other. Furthermore, more than one party stood for the election, with a ban on protests that would interfere with the process.

Once it became apparent that the opposition party had more votes than the ruling party, however, irregularities occurred, first under the order of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister declared a state of emergency on May 16. No public gathering was allowed during this time, the Minister assumed command of the security forces and stationed federal and special forces instead of capital city police. This is hardly the actions of a minister in a democratic country.

Furthermore, the vote tallying process was stopped in this event. This was strongly opposed by both the opposition and independent election monitors. When the results were finally made known, it was also announced that fraud claims were investigated. Altogether 299 seats were questioned in terms of fraud claims. Elections had to be re-run.

These irregularities are not in keeping with the generally accepted definition of election as a term. It appears as if the election in Ethiopia resulted in a rather hysterical fight over who was guilty of fraudulent practices and who was not. In a truly democratic country, fraud should not enter the election equation.

While the elections in Ethiopia began well, and seemed democratic at first, it soon became clear that the ruling party would do anything in its power to secure a reelection. In fact, the murder of 42 people in opposition to the election results was justified as an "appropriate level of force."

In the election campaigns of the United States during 2006, many different tactics were used by the opposing parties to help secure a majority vote for either. Doubtlessly this was done in Ethiopia as well, and is characteristic of a democratic country. Through various election campaigns such as debates, advertisements and speeches, political parties attempt to provide voters with the best possible image of their abilities and competence. Some parties, both in the United States and Ethiopia, even go so far as attempting to discredit the opposition through smear campaigns and the like. While this generally creates a negative impression of the offending party, it is still within the party's rights to run the campaign in any way they see fit.

A major difference between Ethiopia and the United States however is the attitude of the parties toward each other after the result. The Prime Minister of the country was for example under extreme pressure to prove that the elections could be run in a perfectly democratic manner. However, when democracy was not in his favor, violent measures were taken and a reelection demanded to manipulate the results.

The reaction of all involved parties to all the actions taken by the Prime Minister and his ruling party were negative and heavily oppositional. This was not the case in the United States. While some campaign tactics may have resorted to extreme measures in terms of insult or discreditization, this did not result in murder or public violence. Indeed, when the results were made known, parties were able to communicate peacefully. The Republicans, who lost the campaign, accepted the results gracefully once it became clear that recounting the ballots would not change the results (BBC News). Indeed, according to BBC News, President Bush is perfectly willing to work with the winning opposition in order to find solutions to problematic political issues such as Iraq. This, as seen above, is not the case in Ethiopia at all, although it is also true that U.S. campaigners who resorted to potentially harmful tactics would be likely to deny that they did so at all rather than apologize. The political tendency to shy away from one's own mistakes and shortcomings appear to be universal in this sense.

In construction a definition of elections, it is important to first define the democratic paradigm from which it is said to emerge. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia was very confident that democracy would be evident through the election. The attempt however ended the lives of 42 people for a crime no greater than opposing the election results. The Minister's attempt to suppress any such opposition proves that this is no democracy. An election should not be a life-threatening procedure.