ABSTRACT
Since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, democracy has become widely toted as the political system best poised to deliver peace, both between states and within them. The emergence of complex UN peace operations has also led to an increased focus on elections and democratisation as components of post-confl ict reconstruction (see, for example, Namibia, Cambodia and Mozambique). Democracy today is widely accepted as a universal value and the holding of elections is generally perceived as a minimum requirement for legitimate government. Yet, as this chapter will show, importing liberal democracy to a society riven by inter-group competition, deep-seated grievances, and strong identity-based politics, does not necessarily produce peace and equality.
