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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Relationship between the Pre-Election Phase Processes and Political Stability in the East African Community States

Rwigema Pierre Celestin, Mike A. Iravo, Gregory Namusonge

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i8/4528

Open access

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between the pre-election phase processes and political stability in the East Africa Community States. This study adopted a quantitative approach of both descriptive and correlation designs. The target population consisted of 123 individuals working within the electoral commissions of different EAC Countries and the EAC Legislative Assembly. Primary data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. The study used primary data, which was collected using questionnaires. The questionnaires were both open and close ended. The study used email, phone calls and meeting procedure with the targeted respondent in EAC Countries and the EAC Legislative Assembly to follow up. Data collected from the field were coded, cleaned and categorized according to questionnaire items. A pilot test was conducted to detect weaknesses in design and instrumentation. The gathered data was analyzed using computer aided IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 premium. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data collected. Descriptive statistics involved computation of mean scores, standard deviation, percentages, cross tabulation and frequency distribution which described the demographic characteristics of the organization and the respondents. Inferential statistics was used to determine the relationships and significance between independent and dependent variable. Correlation and linear regression were used to analyze the data with F-test being applied to the test hypothesis at 5% level of significance. Content analysis was used for the qualitative data. The data was presented using tables, graphs and charts. From this objective, it was hypothesized that there is no relationship between pre-election phase processes and political stability in the East African Community States. The results of this study showed a positive statistically significant relationship between pre-election phase processes and political stability in the East African Community States. Therefore, hypothesis H01: there is no significant relationship between pre-election phase processes and political stability in the East African Community States was rejected and concluded that pre-election phase processes have a significant effect on political stability. It is notable that the relationship at this stage was not as strong as expected. The researcher attributes this to the fact that before election process it is still young, and the states are at initial stage of implementation of election campaigns and rules.