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On Oct. 25, Ivorians head to the polls for their first presidential election since the disputed 2010 election that left more than 3,000 dead and more than 500,000 . Despite the previous electoral violence and a decade of from 2000-2010, most discussion before this election has been about the country鈥檚 .

Once known as the 鈥�,鈥� the commercial capital Abidjan and the country more generally are again benefiting from high cocoa prices and investor-friendly policies. The World Bank estimates a growth rate of approximately over the last two years.

Many analysts and Ivorian citizens believe (or hope) that the economic boom will help defuse political hostilities between the opposition parties, led by the Front Populaire Ivoirien, and President Alassane Ouattara鈥檚 ruling party, Rassemblement des R茅publicains. The underlying assumption is that with a growing economy, the ruling party can consolidate political support and reduce the likelihood of a closely contested election. And it does appear that the incumbent president Alassane Ouattara will win big.

Political scientists suggest that it is only when vote that candidates and their supporters to prevent competitors from voting. Violence provides a way of 鈥渞edistricting鈥� by from competitive areas. After voting day, violence can escalate if politicians or supporters .

But can we expect economic growth to yield violence-free elections?

• Read more at the , where the complete text was published 20 October 2015.
• The blog post is based on the author鈥檚 article in Journal of Peace Research: 鈥�

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