Political Violence and Elections in Nigeria

Megan Turnbull
Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics
Department of International Affairs
University of Georgia

What explains the targeting of lethal election violence? Why is violence selectively targeted against candidates for office, party workers, or voters during some elections and indiscriminate in others? In answering this question, this talk draws attention to the joint production of election violence by politicians and different armed groups in Nigeria.

Megan Turnbull is an assistant professor of comparative politics at the University of Georgia and holds a PhD.in political science from Brown University. She studies political order and violence, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, including election violence, armed groups, political participation, and democratic backsliding.