Observing democracy: The impact of EU election assistance and observation on the quality of democracy

ended

This project aims at contributing to the EU’s objective of strengthening democratic institutions in third countries by integrating the EU instruments of election assistance and election observation onto high-level research and teaching activities. In particular, election observation is overlooked in contemporary research projects and publications and is often absent from teaching programs in major universities worldwide. This project relies on four main axes. First, it develops an innovative research project on the systematic and comparative impact of EU election observation missions on the quality of democracy worldwide and aims at producing original research outcomes and publications. Second, it proposes high-quality teaching activities - three courses as well as a series of public events - on relevant EU-related topics at the USFQ. Third, it aims at improving democratic practices and electoral processes in Ecuador and at empowering the Ecuadorian civil society around issues of democracy and elections, among others by providing election observation trainings for the forthcoming electoral processes in this country. Finally, this project will contribute to a refinement of the existing EU instruments of election assistance and election observation by providing clear research insights and by suggesting relevant methodological and policy improvements.