He offered this initiative as an example of where the USG and Commonwealth have mutual interests and where the USG could use the Commonweath's technical electoral commission capacity-building capability and independent, "baggage free" status to promote democracy abroad.
And the central gem of Bachelet's political agenda, the rewriting of the dictatorship-era constitution of 1980, which not only limited her "New Majority" coalition from seats in the Congress, but placed stringent red tape on the electoral system's capacity for political change.
Of all the lessons learned on 7 May, the most significant should be the capacity of the electoral system itself to damage political legitimacy rather than to enhance it.
Growing doubts about the capacity of the electoral commission to technically administer a six-ballot poll, the most complex in Kenyan history [pdf], have made it all the easier for the eventual loser to cry foul.
"Bruce just has an enormous wealth of historical knowledge about politics in New York, the various demographic and ethnic factors which affect politics in New York, and a tremendous capacity to understand electoral trends," said John J. Faso, a former minority leader of the State Assembly who was the Republican candidate against Mr. Spitzer last year.
With respect to leveling electoral threats, Moulitsas has the capacity to draw funding and attention to individual races that can cause serious headaches -- even when it's a progressive being targeted.
Does the COMELEC have the adequate administrative and coordinating capacity to undertake disability-inclusive electoral policies?
As James Madison said, the Electoral College included the will of the nation every congressional district gets an electoral vote and "the will of the states in their distinct and independent capacities," since every state gets two additional electors.
Ambassador Christian Strohal, the Austrian diplomat who leads the office, said the proposals appeared to be devised to limit the capacity and influence of objective assessments of the governments' electoral conduct.
The capacity of the COMELEC also needs to be further strengthened to facilitate the administration of electoral issues of voters with disabilities.
