Despite a recent uptick in armed violence, on the face of it, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has achieved a remarkable feat in replacing bullets with ballot papers as the means to achieving power. Following the Global and Inclusive Agreement of 2002 between former belligerents, which put an end to five years of conflict, the country agreed on a new constitution, enshrining in law a series of new democratic institutions. Since then, it has held four rounds of parliamentary and presidential elections, some of which have been credible, while others have been deeply flawed. It has also seen executive power change hands once at the national level and numerous times at the provincial level.
Read the full piece: The Democratic Republic of the Congo: A competitive electoral oligarchy