Open AccessIntroducing the Deadly Electoral Conflict Dataset (DECO)
Author(s) -
Hanne Fjelde,
Kristine Höglund
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of conflict resolution/the journal of conflict resolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.671
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1552-8766
pISSN - 0022-0027
DOI - 10.1177/00220027211021620
Subject(s) - politics , armed conflict , political science , peacekeeping , political violence , criminology , political economy , sociology , law
This article introduces the Deadly Electoral Conflict dataset (DECO): a global, georeferenced event dataset on electoral violence with lethal outcomes from 1989 to 2017. DECO allows for empirical evaluation of theories relating to the timing, location, and dynamics of deadly electoral violence. By clearly distinguishing electoral violence from related (and sometimes concurrent) instances of organized violence, DECO is particularly suitable for investigating how election-related violence is connected to other forms of violent political contention. In the article, we present the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the data collection and discuss empirical patterns that emerge in DECO. We also demonstrate one potential use of DECO by examining the association between United Nations peacekeeping forces and the prevalence of deadly electoral violence in conflict-affected countries.