早稲田大学現代政治経済研究所実験政治学研究部会（部会主任：尾野嘉邦教授）は、グリフィス大学のリー・モーゲンベッサー准教授をお招きし、「The Rise of Imitation Election Observers」と題して講演会を開催します。ぜひご参加下さい。
We are pleased to announce that Experimental Political Science Research Division (Head of division: Professor Yoshikuni Ono) at Waseda Institute of Political Economy will be inviting Professor Lee Morgenbesser (Griffith University) to give a seminar “The Rise of Imitation Election Observers” on March 20, 2023.
日時：2023年3月20日（月）13：00-14：30
Date and Time: 20 March 2023, 1:00pm-2:30pm
場所：早稲田大学3号館909教室
Venue: Room 909, Building 3, Waseda Campus, Waseda University
発表者：リー・モーゲンベッサー准教授（グリフィス大学）
Speaker: Lee Morgenbesser (Associate Professor of Griffith University)
概要Outline: Flawed elections are a foundation of autocratic rule. An acute challenge for dictatorships is to maintain political control without sacrificing electoral credibility. This delicate balancing act has compelled many to offer formal compliance to the international norm of external observation; thereby inviting intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and/or sovereign states in to assess the freedom and fairness of the electoral process. The risk of such compliance is that these same actors might issue a highly critical assessment, which is exactly what occurred in Ukraine (2004), Kenya (2008), Cambodia (2013) and Venezuela (2018), amongst many other cases. Over the past two decades, a growing number of dictatorships have mitigated this risk by instead handpicking those accredited to be international election observers. A shortlist of the cast of characters includes ambassadors, academics, civil servants, corporate executives, journalists, lawyers, members of parliament, public relations consultants, and even former presidents and prime ministers. Upon closer inspection, however, it is evident that these seemingly reputable international observers are working as partisan agents and their assessments are predicated on disinformation. In the pursuit of control and credibility, autocratic regimes have fuelled the rise of “imitation” election observers. This talk addresses the origins, features, and impact of this alarming phenomenon. The result is the fullest and clearest ever picture of how dictatorships utilise sympathetic individuals and groups to give their elections the tick of approval.
略歴Short Bio: Lee Morgenbesser is an associate professor with the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University and fellow with the Australian Research Council. His latest book is The Rise of Sophisticated Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020) and he is currently working on a new book tentatively entitled Faithful Imposters: The Wrecking of International Election Observation. A regular contributor to international media outlets and consultant to international organisations, some of his research has appeared in Comparative Political Studies, Democratization, Journal of Democracy, Political Studies and The Pacific Review. In addition, he has been invited to present his research at the Council on Foreign Relations, European Parliament, National Endowment for Democracy, United States Department of State as well as the United States Agency for International Development, amongst many other institutions. His research areas are authoritarian politics, dictators, democratization, election observation and Southeast Asian politics.
