Abstract
The aim of this research is to identify ways of improving the quality of future elections
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This will be achieved through the use of a monitoring
and evaluation (M&E) tool that can assess the entire electoral cycle. A comparison of the 2006 and
2011 elections in the country will shed light on key criteria that need to be improved to achieve a
more representative form of democracy.
The notion of democracy is also discussed in the context of elections. Various types of democracies
are assessed in relation to the freeness and fairness of elections where these are seen as
producing electoral democracy. This is done to understand the kind of attributes that lead to free
and fair democracy. M&E is then assessed as a tool for the measurement of elections beyond just
election monitoring. The political history of the DRC is discussed before the concepts of M&E are
applied to the respective elections.
Electoral evaluation has been found in this study to be a useful tool in the assessment of the kind
of resources/inputs, activities and outputs one should focus on to improve the democratic quality
of elections. The use of M&E has also been proven useful in breaking down the electoral cycle into
phases that makes it easier to
objectively assess electoral quality.
M.A. (Public Management and Governance)