Developing Democracies in Southeast Asia:Theorizing the Role of Parties and Elections 1 Forthcoming in Southeast Asia and Political Science: Theory, Region, and Method

Political parties and elections lie at the center of modern democratic politics. Elections function as the chief means of holding leaders accountable for their actions in democratic societies. Political parties, defined most simply as a group of candidates that run for election under the same label, provide a means of aggregating interests as well as organizing and coordinating voters, candidates, political donors, legislators, executives, and interest groups around a common set of objectives. It is little wonder then that parties and elections are the subject of so much attention from political scientists.