Illegitimate Democracy : A Politcal Anatomy of the De Facto State

This thesis examines the impact of peacekeepers on the democratisation of electoral processes in de facto states by combining two fields of research: 1) peacekeepers’ effect on democratisation, and 2) democratisation in de facto states. The theory proposes a positive relationship between the two, formulating a two-branched causal pathway detailing how PKO’s direct support of institutions and indirect support of civil society results in the increased democratisation of elections in de facto states. A qualitative cross-case comparison is implemented to comparatively assess the democratisation of parliamentary elections in the de facto states Abkhazia and Artsakh. Findings identify a correlation between PKO’s capacity-building of civil society and increased democratisation, supporting the indirect pathway. However, any direct support of electoral processes in the de facto states could not be identified. This thesis contributes to the field by combining two separate strands of literature and proposes a new concept for future research: informal state-building.