This timeous special issue is now published open access on the Taylor & Francis website here.
Several of the articles were presented at an international conference on this topic hosted by the Electoral Commission of South Africa while the Chair of the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), in November 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Guest editors Toby James (University of East Anglia, UK), Khabele Matlosa (formerly with the AU and now at the University of Johannesburg) and Victor Shale (Electoral Commission of South Africa), in their introduction to the issue present a compelling analysis of the implications of democratic recession for election monitoring bodies and how these important actors around the world can be best equipped to respond. They also introduce the articles in the special issue, as listed below, including two articles focused on the impact of social media on electoral processes and how to regulate against abuse of these new forms of communication without opening the doors for authoritarian control of the public discourse.
