ABSTRACT
The main findings and thus contributions of this book are consistent with my theoretical expectations. From the quantitative portion of this project, I find support that countries with judicial independence scores below 30 percent are less likely to experience post-election violence by the challenger. Consistent with my argument, use of violence by the challenger under a dependent judiciary is not strategic and has low return as evidenced from the Uganda case study. Strategic use of violence by the challenger was recorded in countries with judicial independence between 31 percent and 60 percent. The findings from the Kenya case study supports my theory that challengers will use post-election violence strategically under judiciaries where the judges have a higher likelihood to strategically defect and be assertive. I also find support that when countries attain 60 percent judicial independence, their likelihood for post-election violence by the challenger dramatically goes down. The chapter also explores policy implications for this research.
