Module 6 - Elections

The two countries I chose to evaluate were the Dominican Republic and the United States. I chose articles about each of their 2020 elections, respectively, that way I could compare elections from the same year. The main similarity that I found was that both elections were held democratically, and both resulted in a transfer of power from one party to another. How that transfer was handled is where I found the biggest differences.

The 2020 Presidential Election is famous in the U.S. for accusations of fraud and cheating. Haberman, Berzon & Schmidt (2022), note that allies of Donald Trump are still working to get electoral votes rescinded from President Biden. These accusations have also caused podcasts and television shows to discuss how the results can be overturned, even two years later (Haberman, Berzon & Schmidt, 2022). 

The 2020 Presidential Election in the Dominican Republic did not come with as much controversy. Luis Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party won the election by a 15.06 margin over the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (Peschard-Sverdrup, 2020). While the article mentioned that this would be a “seismic political shift”, there was no mention of any accusations of fraud as there were in the U.S. (Peschard-Sverdrup, 2020).



Results of the 2020 Presidential Election in the Dominican Republic (By Political Party)

Flint & Taylor (2018), noted that political competitiveness, political participation, and multi-party elections were all important parts of the liberal democracy model. Both countries fit these, and therefore I would say they fit the model of a liberal democracy. I would say that in this specific election, the Dominican Republic was a better example, as their citizens or opposing political parties did not cause an uproar when their preferred candidate lost the election.

                         People Voting in the 2020 Presidential Election in the Dominican Republic

(Preschard-Sverdrup, 2020)

Flint, C., & Taylor, P.J. (2018). Political geography: World-economy, nation-state and locality (7th                     ed.). Routledge.

Haberman, M., Berzon, A., & Schmidt, M. S. (2022, April 18). Trump allies continue legal drive to                     erase his loss, stoking election doubts. The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from                     https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/us/politics/trump-allies-election-decertify.html

Peschard-Sverdrup, A. (2020, July 20). The outcome of the Dominican Republic general elections.                      Center for Strategic & International Studies. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from                                                https://www.csis.org/analysis/outcome-dominican-republic-general-elections


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