Brodie's Public Policy and Global Governance Blog

This fall Russian officials will get a chance to return criticism that has been heaped on them following the election of Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev was election after securing 70% of the popular vote in what western commentators billed a disgrace to democracy. Some argued that the Russian media was far too pro-Kremlim and influenced the outcome of elections in addition to reports of voter intimidation and the like.

This October, Russia will be sending a number of delegates along with OSCE officials to monitor the 2008 US Presidential Election. Similar charges have been levelled against the US media which has at times portrayed Obama in a much more favourable light than McCain. The media are often the gatekeepers of public opinion and can play a large role in how issues are framed. Furthermore, it is the media that chooses where most of the attention will go in elections and what crises or scandals they want to cover. Usually these are the sensational stories that will garner the most attention. After all, producing news reports is a business and news programs compete for ratings too.

It will be interesting to see what the assessment is of international observers. Many, from your armchair political analysts to conspiracy theorists have claimed that Bush stole the 2000 election and these claims were popularized in Michael Moore's film Farenheit 9/11. Others have noted that many black voters had trouble registering in the election. We need to remember that democracy is an ideal, not an absolute state of affairs. There can always be improvements to how we conduct our democratic processes, even in the home of the free.