Application of Regional Security Complex Theory in Electoral Management, a View of East African Region

Abstract

The usage of Regional Security Theory is rampant in many areas of traditional security. It has not so much been applied to non-traditional security areas such as elections. The paper sought to find applicability of RSCT on the backdrop of the fact that many previous elections have been marred by intrastate violence, conflict laden electoral management dynamics (political architecture, systemic models, operational issues, and security strategies) which have unprecentedly caused threats to the East African regional security architecture in socio-eco-political perspectives. Despite inherent complexities that exist in Inter-State Security Arrangements (ISSA) due to functional-structural weakness of core state institutions, additionally, the researcher focused the study theoretically using Buzan and Waever’s Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) in Regions and Power which address areas of internal “security interdependence” and securitization among states linked geographically to find its significance to non-traditional security context. The theory’s multi-dimensional nature fits different settings as a way of theorizing securitization and was interesting within the neo-liberal regimes set by regionalization in the East African Region.