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Constitutional Features of Presidential Elections and the Failure of Cross-ethnic Coalitions to Institutionalize

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Abstract

This article studies the constitutional features of Afghan presidential elections and their impact on coalition-building. Based on the constitution, Afghan presidential elections are candidate-centric, zero-sum games, prone to pre-electoral bargaining, majoritarian, double ballots, religiously exclusive, and constrained by electoral cycles, as well as presidential term limits. Examining the presidential electoral features, this article argues that they do not have unidirectional impacts on coalition-building: some electoral features incentivize the formation of cross-ethnic coalitions, while others hinder their institutionalization. Therefore, while some function as constructive features, others are obstructive to coalition-building. This article proposes that the obstructive features of presidential elections can be remedied through institutional designs. The remedies proposed in this article include holding concurrent elections and adopting nomination thresholds.

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Correspondence to M. Bashir Mobasher .

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Mobasher, M.B. (2019). Constitutional Features of Presidential Elections and the Failure of Cross-ethnic Coalitions to Institutionalize. In: Ratuva, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_157-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_157-2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0242-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0242-8

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Constitutional Features of Presidential Elections and the Failure of Cross-ethnic Coalitions to Institutionalize
    Published:
    02 August 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_157-2

  2. Original

    Constitutional Features of Presidential Elections and the Failure of Cross-ethnic Coalitions to Institutionalize
    Published:
    08 February 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0242-8_157-1