ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to explore the ways in which the election of politicians can be made more fair and credible by adopting a human rights approach to how the electoral process is conducted. Contributors unpack the 'right to free elections' by examining it from a variety of disciplines and methods. Where competitive elections are conducted and managed by authoritarian regimes, elections serve the particular purpose of maintaining the status quo and of excluding or marginalising groups that oppose the regime. These regimes meet the minimalist Schumpeterian criteria for contested elections to allow them to qualify as democracies, but since their elections are neither free nor fair they have been described as 'electoral authoritarian', giving rise to a new focus in the literature on 'electoral integrity'. Compliance, the European Court of Human Rights, choice of electoral system, and political parties are also discussed.
