Parliamentary elections in Jordan

By: V-Dem Staff
Sep 21, 2016


In this week’s graph we will take a look at election boycotts. Election boycotts are a deliberative and public refusal by a candidate, party, or voter to participate in an election and can be used by parties as a protest against the electoral system. The 2016 Jordanian elections were the first held under the new electoral system and the first since 2007 that the Muslim brotherhood and other opposition parties are participating in rather than boycotting. The graph shows the development of election boycotts up until today in Jordan.

Using the V-Dem’s online analysis Country Graph tool we can use the Election Boycotts Indicator to analyze the development of election boycotts by parties, candidates, or voters in countries since 1900. In the graph below we focus on parties and candidates. A higher value indicates that fewer parties or candidates boycotted the elections compared to scores for the same indicator of other countries or years. In the case of Jordan, we see that election boycotts decreased in 2003 compared to 1997. Despite the Brotherhood’s participation in the 2007 elections, the number of parties and candidates boycotting the election has decreased since 2003. However, this graph does not yet take into account this year’s election, which may have interesting results.

You can find out more about election boycott or analyze other election indicators for Jordan, or any other country, by using the online analysis tool at v-dem.net.