Pre-election violence undermines the integrity of elections, especially in nascent democracies across Sub-Saharan Africa. Not only national political elites, but also local political actors play critical roles in either support and resistance to the perpetration of pre-election violence. As pre-election violence happens unevenly within a country, understanding why and how local political actors facilitate or forestall violent electoral strategies in their communities becomes an urgent task with both theoretical and policy importance. 

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My book project, Traditional Leaders in Democracy, examines the roles played by African traditional leaders in shaping the local dynamics of political violence before or during elections. It assesses how traditional leaders deter politicians from carrying out election violence in their communities through effectively coordinating their subjects in voting. It draws from existing and original survey and observational data. The empirical evidence focuses primarily on West Africa, especially Ghana and Sierra Leone, countries with rich traditional institutions and an often-neglected history of election violence. This book project demonstrates that traditional leaders are not incompatible with democratic institutions in that they play active functions in pre-election violence prevention. The findings of this book contributes to the scholarly debates on the tension between traditional and democratic institutions. They also have key policy implications on not only empowerment of local actors in election violence prevention, but also incorporation of traditional institutions in democratic regimes.