Local government elections in Armenia: gaps, shortcomings and perspective for improvements

Abstract

A well-known and simple definition of democracy is “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” For any democracy free and fair elections are vital. Ideally, citizens have confidence that: (1) all kind of elections occur according to specified rules and usually at specific intervals; (2) candidates for office can freely and effectively present their positions and qualifications; (3) each voter’s preference can be expressed freely; (4) each vote counts equally in determining the outcome; (5) only citizens entitled to vote will participate. As a newly emerged and developing democracy Armenia should aim to establish and maintain an electoral system that meets these criteria. So far it has not. Local self-government elections are an essential part of democracy. However, similar to presidential/parliamentary elections they also do not meet universal international standards for democratic, free, fair, and competitive elections. This study identifies the ways presidential/parliamentary elections influence the local ones, analyzes the current system of local government elections, and tries to give recommendations to address current shortcomings in the Armenian local government electoral system.