Monitoring Democracy – When International Election Observation Works, and Why It Often Fails Fails

"This probing, nuanced, and insightful analysis of international election monitoring splendidly illuminates and assesses a key area of international democracy support. The book's conclusions about the mixed utility and many dilemmas of election monitoring are persuasive and deserve wide attention. Extra kudos to Judith Kelley for providing an all-too-rare example of sophisticated, rigorous political science methods being brought to bear on the domain of democracy promotion."--Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

"Judith Kelley has written not only the definitive book on election monitoring for scholars and practitioners, but also an important new work on the modern practice of democracy itself. Her persuasive and carefully conducted analysis of election monitoring reveals its positive effects as well as its ambiguities and shortcomings. Election monitoring organizations should make Monitoring Democracy required reading for all their staff."--Kathryn Sikkink, University of Minnesota

"In this book, Judith Kelley shows her skills as a political detective, demonstrating with impressive social science that under certain conditions--not all--election monitoring promotes democracy. If you read only one book on election monitoring, read Monitoring Democracy."--Robert O. Keohane, Princeton University

"This timely book provides the first inclusive study of election monitoring as it has developed since the mid-1970s. It contains strong arguments, meticulous analysis, and a genuine understanding of the complexities of individual elections throughout the world."--Jorgen Elklit, Aarhus University

"No other book compares the operations of different monitoring organizations and offers such a comprehensive overview of their effectiveness."--Amanda Sives, University of Liverpool

"Monitoring Democracy answers a host of foundational questions about international election observation. What is novel about this book--and what stands as Judith Kelley's singular achievement--is her comprehensive and systematic collection of evidence. Her interpretation of this evidence is, happily, always nuanced, judicious, and just plain smart. A must-read book."--Frederic C. Schaffer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst