This research studies protests after fraudulent elections in a collective action framework, examining the impact of the potential cost, benefit and likelihood of success of protest on the occurrence and intensity of protests. Quantitative analysis of fraudulent elections in about 100 countries from 1990 to 2004 shows that the odds of protest after fraudulent elections are greater when the level of state repression is moderate with a possible backlash effect of high repression, when the opposition is united, and when international monitors denounce election results. The analysis only partially supports the benefit of protest argument. Also, the research uses case studies from Eurasia (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, and Russia) and mini-case studies from Africa and Latin America to study in more detail the effects of the factors identified in the quantitative analysis and to identify overlooked but important explanatory factors using a set of extensive interviews conducted in the United States and during fieldwork in Armenia, Georgia, and Russia with politicians, domestic and international election monitors, and country experts.

The coronavirus pandemic has thoroughly tested the Swedish crisis management system. It has affected and involved a large number of actors, across sectors and levels of government. Scholars of crisis management have long been interested in different forms of collaboration between actors. This large-scale crisis provides an opportunity to enhance our understanding of collaborative crisis management and to help us better deal with crisis in the future. This study aims to further enhance our understanding of collaboration in crisis management through the lens of a cen- tral actor in the Swedish crisis management system: the county administrative boards (länsstyrelserna). This study focuses on regional crisis management, where the county administrative boards play a central role, and aims to describe the con- text in which the actors operate and identify potential collaboration risks. This is being done through the application of the Institutional Collective Action Frame- work (ICA), which has been developed to identify and address collective action problems that may occur due to fragmented responsibility. Through a qualitative interview study this thesis has highlighted the complex nature of a large-scale crisis and the collaboration risks that follows. The main finding of this study is that the risk of coordination problems increases when a large-scale crisis involves a larger number of actors. Risks of incoordination are manifested in parallel communication channels and parallel networks, that if not identified and managed risks to short- circuit the ordinary collaborative structures in place. Some of the findings in the study may also be of interest for further studies.