This book is the first of a planned trilogy on the challenges of electoral integrity around the world, including why it matters, why electoral integrity fails, and what can be done to address these problems. The study is part of the Electoral Integrity Project (EIP), a six-year research project generously funded by the Australian Research Council’s Laureate Award as well as the support of many other agencies and partners. Work on the project started in June 2012, with the official launch workshop held in Madrid, in conjunction with the International Political Science Association World Congress.

The EIP project is located in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. I am deeply indebted to Graeme Gill, Duncan Ivison, Allan McConnell, Michael Spence, and Simon Tormey for facilitating the arrangement and generously hosting the project, as well as to all colleagues in the department. The book would not have been possible without the research team at Sydney, who have played an essential role in stimulating ideas, providing critical feedback and advice, generating related publications, and organizing events, especially developing the Perception of Electoral Integrity (PEI) dataset. I owe an immense debt to Dr. Richard W. Frank, the project manager and research Fellow; Dr. Ferran Martinez I Coma, research Fellow and manager of PEI; and Max Grömping and Sandra Urquiza who helped with research on the project as they pursued their doctoral studies.