Subverting elections in Thailand: inclusion and independence in election commission design and practice

When do election commissions contribute to peace, and when do they subvert it? For years, civil society actors, policy experts, and practitioners in electoral management and international electoral assistance have largely assumed that establishing “independent” election commissions is key to fostering positive electoral outcomes, including peace. However, recent post-conflict research indicates that inclusion on independent commissions might be more strongly linked to reducing the risk of violence than independence alone. Building on this research, I propose a relational approach to studying election commissions by examining how inclusion and independence interact and how this nexus impacts peace. Using the example of the Election Commission of Thailand, I argue that the inclusion-independence election commissions nexus may not guarantee peace in all post-conflict and conflict-prone settings. Instead, it may create opportunities for power-hungry elites to weaponise these commissions against their opponents, ultimately subverting rather than fostering peace.