Conference: “Electoral Law Reforms in Post-Conflict Societies: The Arab World and Beyond”

Byblos campus

The Department of Social Sciences at the Lebanese American University (LAU), the Arab Network for Democratic Elections (ANDE) and the German Institute of Global and Areas Studies (GIGA) are organizing an international conference titled: “Electoral Law Reforms in Post-Conflict Societies: The Arab World and Beyond”.

Since the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011, people from across the region have mobilized to end the rule of autocratic regimes and to increase their participation in government. Multiple attempts at reforming Arab countries’ electoral laws have been undertaken since to improve the representativeness of political power. The participants of the conference will discuss how these reforms impact the region’s deeply divided societies, and how they may contribute to mediating conflicts. Special attention will be paid to the electoral law debate in Lebanon, the only Arab country with a long record of democratic practice and a broad occurrence of electoral law modeling. Furthermore, the conference will raise attention to examples from other world regions and study their experiences. This conference brings together the knowledge and skills of experts – practitioners and academics – from within and outside the region to assess the progress to date and to foster a debate that will improve elections and social integration well beyond the MENA region.

Click here for the conference program.