This paper sketches out the factors which could exacerbate tensions in the 2012 national elections and sets out a series of recommended actions to avert the violence. As Papua New Guinea gears up for the national election due to be held mid 2012, there is increasing concern that the electoral process will be marred by...

This background note provides an overview of the regulation of political financing at the Commonwealth level including election expenditure. It also gives an account of the various political financing reforms that have been implemented or proposed at the national level since the 1980s. The funding of political activity and structures—from holding elections to assisting political...

Ian McAllister, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at ANU and a former Director of ANU’s Research School of Social Sciences, discusses the Australian Election Study (AES) and its implications for the ALP. The AES has surveyed Australian public opinion on politics following each federal election since 1987. It has asked about electoral institutions, party loyalties...

This paper gives an overview of each state or territory political financing regime, followed by an account of the monitoring and disclosure provisions for political expenditure and donations. The funding of elections and other formally structured political activity is a crucial consideration for modern democracies. It is not simply a question of how to manage...

Beginning in December 2010, a series of dramatic political events in several countries brought into sharp focus the topic of this report–election training for journalists. Elections in Haiti and Ivory Coast turned unexpectedly chaotic and violent. Elections results in Uganda, Nigeria, Congo–and more recently in Russia–prompted protests and tensions that journalists had to contend with...