The Impact of Armed Conflicts on the Right to Political Participation: A Comparative Study

Abstract

There is no doubt that armed conflicts that arise as a result of a difference in interests or a lack of compatibility in visions in managing the country, and the difference in these visions may lead to the outbreak of armed conflicts that may be internal or external. In both cases, they are considered among the most powerful influences on the right to electoral participation. Internal conflict contributes to dividing the components of the people according to an ethnic component, i.e. races and nationalities, or sectarian according to different religious doctrines. In all circumstances, these divisions contribute to mobilizing the electoral public in favor of those categories and components. As for the second conflict, it is an external war between one state and another, and it may also be due to a struggle for influence or a political and economic conflict. It is also not without influences on the electoral process because the people and the government in that period are primarily concerned with repelling aggression from the country, and the importance of elections comes because they bring the political authority to power.