This is the second edition of Outside the Ballot Box, an initiative of the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NiZA), the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), and the Humanist Institute for Development Co-operation (HiVOS).

In this edition, 14 authors write about the state of affairs related to elections, democracy, and civil society in Southern Africa. Some of the questions the authors of this book are attempting to answer are: What role do elections play in strengthening democracy, observance of human rights, and in providing capacity to poor and marginalised people to express their demands and needs? Do women participate on an equal basis? Can elections in a one-party state be free and fair? How do liberation movements behave once they are in power? Do they meet the expectations of the people that fought with them and voted for them?

The publication is a result of an initiative of the organisations mentioned above who joined efforts in 2004 (then also including the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)) to monitor the compliance of SADC countries with the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections agreed upon by SADC Heads of State, as well as tools developed earlier by EISA and the Electoral Commissions Forum in the SADC (Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC Region) and by the SADC Parliamentary Forum (Norms and Standards for Elections in the SADC Region).

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OSISA website on October 20 2008.