Civil Society and Electoral Accountability

Abstract

On April 8, 2001, Peru held an extraordinary election following the precipitous fall of President Alberto Fujimori. Fujimori, a political outsider first elected in 1990, had won a controversial third term in 2000 in an election plagued with problems. He was forced to resign in disgrace when videotaped evidence surfaced to prove that he was bribing opposition congress members to switch affiliations. When new elections were called, public confidence in Peru’s elections and political institutions was at a low. A variety of international organizations stepped in to assist. The UN Election Assistance Division (UN-EAD) provided technical advisors to the Peruvian election authorities. The European Union (EU), the Organization of American States (OAS) and a joint delegation from the Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) each sent long-term staffers. In total, these international teams fielded over 300 short-term observers on election day. Their presence was lauded in the international press and by the policy community.

Democracy in any country ultimately rests in the hands of its people and depends on the existence of a civil society that can effectively use the instruments that democracy provides.

(Muñoz 1998, 14)