Introducing the Modes and Agents of Election-Related Violence in Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya (MAVERICK) Dataset

Abstract

Electoral violence is a serious threat to free and fair elections. Theoretical explanations of electoral violence increasingly move beyond simplified incumbent-opposition dichotomies, and yet, there is a lack of nuanced actor data needed to test such explanations. This special data feature introduces the Modes and Agents of Election-Related Violence in Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya (MAVERICK) dataset, an actor-centered georeferenced event report dataset on electoral violence. MAVERICK includes 2,200 electoral violence events in Côte d’Ivoire (1995–2022) and Kenya (1992–2022), covering all multiparty elections since the (re)introduction of democracy in the 1990s. MAVERICK’s granular information on actor characteristics, affiliations, and roles, as well as added indicators of violence intensity, makes the dataset ideal for developing and testing nuanced theories on the causes, dynamics, and consequences of electoral violence. The article introduces the conceptual and operational definitions used, outlines the data structure and data collection approach, and provides a first analysis of the actors of electoral violence in the Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya. Moreover, we highlight the dataset’s value by examining how involvement by different branches of the security forces shapes electoral violence intensity, and demonstrate that police involvement is associated with less intense violence, while paramilitary police involvement is associated with more serious violence.