Forms of Pre-Electoral Violence: New Micro-Level Evidence from Indonesia

• In Event: 269. Types and Effects of Electoral Malpractice in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Much of political science literature on pre-election violence has focused on incumbent candidates' use of violence to manipulate electoral outcomes. Violence leading up to an election serves as a tool for candidates to either suppress voters from turning out on election day, or to prime and recruit voters to vote along ethno-religious lines. There is yet another strategy beyond voter mobilization that has received little attention in the literature: candidate-targeting violence. By inciting violence that target and intimidate rival candidates, political hopefuls can literally reduce the number of competitors in the race and effectively increase their likelihood of winning an election. We use a comprehensively coded electoral violence dataset that occur surrounding direct elections of local executives in Indonesia from 2005 through 2012 to capture different forms of pre-electoral violence. We present patterns of both voter mobilization and candidate targeting in pre-electoral violence and examine when and why political hopefuls adopt either of these strategies.

Authors

• Risa Toha, Yale-NUS College

• Harish S.P., New York University