Elections
Meddling in the Ballot Box The Causes and Effects of Partisan Electoral Interventions is a 2020 book by Dov H. Levin. The author states that the United States of America has intervened in 81 elections, more than any other country.[1]
The U.S. intervened in 81 foreign elections between 1946 and 2000, while the Soviet Union or Russia intervened in 36.[2][3] A 2018 study by Levin found that the electoral interventions determined in "many cases" the identity of the winner.[4] The study also found suggestive evidence that the interventions increased the risk of democratic breakdown in the targeted states.[4]
Among 938 global elections examined,Template:Efn The USA and USSR/Russia had combined in about one out of nine (117 total) elections, with the majority of those (68%) being through covert, rather than overt, actions.
The author explains that "on average, an electoral intervention in favor of one side contesting the election will increase its vote share by about 3 percent," an effect large enough to have potentially changed the results in seven out of 14 U.S. presidential elections occurring after 1960.[2]Template:EfnTemplate:Efn
US and USSR interventions
| Country | belligerent | Year | Effected | Open or Secret |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | U.S. | 1946 | Jose P. Tamborini | Overt |
| Hungary | USSR | 1947 | MKP | Overt |
| Italyb | U.S. | 1948 | DC | Overtc |
| Italyb | USSR | 1948 | PCI | Covert |
| U.S. | USSR | 1948 | Henry A. Wallace | Overt |
| Israel | U.S. | 1949 | Mapai | Overt |
| Finland | USSR | 1950 | * | Overt |
| Japan | U.S. | 1952 | Liberal Party | Overt |
| West Germany | U.S. | 1953 | CDU | Overt |
| Italyb | U.S. | 1953 | DC | Overtc |
| Italyb | USSR | 1953 | PCI | Covert |
| Japan | U.S. | 1953 | Liberal Party | Overtc |
| Philippines | U.S. | 1953 | Ramon Magsaysay | Covert |
| Brazil | U.S. | 1955 | Juarez Tavora | Covert |
| Indonesia | U.S. | 1955 | Masjumi | Covert |
| Laos | U.S. | 1955 | NPP | Covert |
| Finland | USSR | 1956 | Urho Kaleva Kekkonen | Overt |
| Iceland | U.S. | 1956 | Independence Party | Overt |
| Sri Lanka | U.S. | 1956 | UNP | Overt |
| West Germany | USSR | 1957 | SPD | Overt |
| Lebanon | U.S. | 1957 | Supporters of Camille | Covert |
| Philippines | U.S. | 1957 | Chamoun Jose Yulo | Covert |
| Greece (note b) | U.S. | 1958 | ERE | Covert |
| Greeceb | USSR | 1958 | EDA | Overt |
| Guatemala | U.S. | 1958 | Jose Luis Cruz Salazar | Covert |
| Italy | U.S. | 1958 | DC | Covert |
| Japan | U.S. | 1958 | LDP | Overtc |
| Laos | U.S. | 1958 | NPP | Overtc |
| Venezuela | USSR | 1958 | Wolfgang Larrazabal | Covert |
| Malaysia | U.S. | 1959 | UNMO | Covert |
| Nepal | U.S. | 1959 | Nepali Congress Party | Covert |
| San Marino | U.S. | 1959 | PDCS | Covert |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | USSR | 1960 | MNC | Covert |
| Japan | U.S. | 1960 | LDP | Covert |
| Laos | U.S. | 1960 | CDNI | Covert |
| Sri Lanka | U.S. | 1960 (March) | UNP | Covert |
| Sri Lanka | U.S. | 1960 (July) | UNP | Covert |
| Greece | U.S. | 1961 | ERE | Covert |
| Philippines | U.S. | 1961 | Diosdado Pangan | Covert |
| South Vietnam† | U.S. | 1961 | Macapagal Ngo Dinh Diem | Covert |
| Brazil | U.S. | 1962 | ** | Covert |
| Canada | USSR | 1962 | Liberal Party | Overt |
| Finland | USSR | 1962 | Urho Kaleva Kekkonen | Overt |
| Peru | U.S. | 1962 | Victor Raul Haya de la Torre | Covert |
| Italy | U.S. | 1963 | DC | Covert |
| Japan | U.S. | 1963 | LDP | Covert |
| Bolivia† | U.S. | 1964 | Victor Paz Estenssoro | Covert |
| Chileb | U.S. | 1964 | Eduardo Frei Montalva | Covert |
| Chileb | USSR | 1964 | Salvador Allende Gossens | Covert |
| Somalia | U.S. | 1964 | *** | Covert |
| Sri Lanka | U.S. | 1965 | UNP | Covert |
| Bolivia | U.S. | 1966 | Rene Barrientos Ortuno | Covert |
| Costa Rica | U.S. | 1966 | Daniel Oduber Quiros | Covert |
| Dominican Republic | U.S. | 1966 | Joaquin Beleaguer | Covert |
| India | USSR | 1967 | CPI | Covert |
| Laos | U.S. | 1967 | **** | Covert |
| Finland | USSR | 1968 | Urho Kaleva Kekkonen | Overt |
| Guyana | U.S. | 1968 | PNC | Covert |
| Italy | U.S. | 1968 | DC | Covert |
| West Germany | USSR | 1969 | SPD | Overt |
| Thailand | U.S. | 1969 | UTPT | Covert |
| Chileb | U.S. | 1970 | Radomiro Tomic & Jorge Allesanderi | Covert |
| Chile [note b] | USSR | 1970 | Salvador Allende Gossens | Covert |
| Costa Rica | USSR | 1970 | Jose Figueres Ferrer | Covert |
| Pakistan | USSR | 1970 | Awami League | Covert |
| Malta | U.S. | 1971 | PN | Covert |
| Uruguay | U.S. | 1971 | Colorados/Juan Maria | Covert |
| Bordaberry South Vietnam† | U.S. | 1971 | Nguyen Van Thieu | Covert |
| West Germany | USSR | 1972 | SPD | Covert |
| Italyb | U.S. | 1972 | DC | Covert |
| Italy [note b] | USSR | 1972 | PCI | Covert |
| Japan | USSR | 1972 | JCP | Covert |
| Bangladesh | USSR | 1973 | Awami League | Covert |
| Denmark | USSR | 1973 | DKP | Covert |
| France | USSR | 1974 | Francois Mitterrand | Covert |
| Greece | USSR | 1974 | United Left | Covert |
| Denmark | USSR | 1975 | DKP | Covert |
| Italyb | U.S. | 1976 | DC | Overtc |
| Italyb | USSR | 1976 | PCI | Covert |
| India | USSR | 1977 | Congress Party (I) | Covert |
| West Germany | USSR | 1980 | SPD | Covert |
| Iran | U.S. | 1980 (Jan.) | Ahmad Madani | Covert |
| Jamaica | U.S. | 1980 | Jamaican Labor Party | Covert |
| El Salvador | U.S. | 1982 | Christian Democratic Party/Duarte | Overt [note c] |
| Mauritius | U.S. | 1982 | Labor Party | Covert |
| West Germany | USSR | 1983 | SPD | Overt |
| Italy | U.S. | 1983 | DC | Covert |
| El Salvador | U.S. | 1984 | Jose Napoleon Duarte | Covert |
| Grenada | U.S. | 1984 | New National Party | Overtc |
| Panama | U.S. | 1984 | Nicolas Ardito Barletta | Covert |
| U.S. | USSR | 1984 | Walter F. Mondale | Covert |
| Costa Rica | U.S. | 1986 | Rafael Angel Calderon | Covert |
| Fournier U.K | U.S. | 1987 | Conservatives | Overt |
| Chile [note †] | U.S. | 1988 | “No” Campaign | Overt |
| France | USSR | 1988 | Andre Lajoinie | Covert |
| Panama | U.S. | 1989 | Guillermo Endara | Covert |
| Bulgaria | U.S. | 1990 | UDF | Overt |
| Czechoslovakia | U.S. | 1990 | OF-VPN | Overt |
| Haiti | U.S. | 1990 | Marc Louis Bazin | Covert |
| Nicaragua | U.S. | 1990 | Violeta Barrios de Chamorro | Overt [note c] |
| Romania | U.S. | 1990 | PNL | Overt |
| Albania | U.S. | 1991 | PDSH | Overt |
| Bulgaria | U.S. | 1991 | UDF | Covert |
| Albania | U.S. | 1992 | PDSH | Covert |
| Israel | U.S. | 1992 | Labor | Overt |
| Lithuania | Russia | 1992 | LDDP | Overt |
| Romania | U.S. | 1992 | CDR | Covert |
| Yugoslavia/Serbia | U.S. | 1992 | Milan Panic | Overt |
| Cambodia | U.S. | 1993 | FUNCINPEC | Covert |
| Belarus | Russia | 1994 | Vyacheslav F. Kebich | Overt |
| Ukraine | U.S. | 1994 | Leonid Kravchuk | Overt |
| Israel | U.S. | 1996 | Shimon Peres/Labor | Overt |
| Russia | U.S. | 1996 | Boris N. Yeltsin | Overtc |
| Latvia | Russia | 1998 | TSP | Overt |
| Slovakia | U.S. | 1998 | SDK | Covert |
| Israel | U.S. | 1999 | Ehud Barak/One Israel | Covert |
| Yugoslavia/Serbia | U.S. | 2000 | Vojislav Kostunica | Overt |
a Name of candidate in presidential elections, name of party in parliamentary elections. Main candidate/party only.
b Double interventions (the U.S. supports one side while the USSR/Russia backs a different side during the same election).
c An overt intervention that also included a significant covert component.
† Cases of partisan electoral interventions in elections which weren’t competitive following authors criteria, usually due to last-moment boycotts of the elections by one of the major sides which were widely expected to contest them or (in the 1988 Chilean case) a rare example of a relatively competitive plebiscite.
- Identity of aided candidate in this election not fully certain, besides being a competitor to President Paasikivi, given available data (although probably Urho Kekkonen).
