Diplomatic Interventions and Mitigating Electoral Violence: The Case for Aligning Diplomacy with Development

This brief outlines the role of diplomatic engagement in mitigating electoral violence risks. It provides an overview of key findings and relevant evidence drawn from two interdependent streams of recent scholarly literature: electoral misconduct, and conflict and political violence. It emphasizes the importance of long-term diplomatic engagement; highlights the difference between political efforts and the more technical, capacity-focused efforts undertaken by development actors; and concludes with a discussion of the types of diplomatic interventions that appear effective in mitigating electoral violence.