Challenging the norm? International election accompaniment in Nicaragua and Venezuela

• Main Authors: Shelley MCCONNEL, Jennifer MCCOY, Michael MCCARTHY
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca 2015-08-01
• Series: América Latina Hoy
• Subjects: norma; elecciones; observación; nicaragua; venezuela
• Online Access: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/1130-2887/article/view/11981

International election monitoring has been touted as a regional norm in the Western hemisphere, but recent reforms in Venezuela and Nicaragua substituted a diminished international role of electoral accompaniment. This article traces the initial acceptance and later limitation of international election monitoring in those countries to explore whether the change constitutes norm localization or norm defection. It concludes that the norm is not as well institutionalized in the hemisphere as conventionally thought, and that models need to assess together national and international monitoring capacities.