Week 9: Reflections on Elections

Hello everyone!

Welcome to week 9 (!) of my blog! Only one more week left in Stockholm!

This week, I’ve been starting to move more towards final housekeeping work here at IDEA. As you may see in some of my previous blogs, I’ve been lucky to work on incredibly timely and unique projects that touch on election issues around the globe. From gender-based violence in Malawi (and valiant efforts to curb it) to constant fears of election meddling, I’ve been exposed to so many issues that countries and citizens face around the globe. It’s hard to feel like you can even make a dent in it — much less as an intern — with so much going on at once, and yet, the work still needs to be done. Again, what else is there to do? We hope that this system continues to abate any chance of mass societal collapse, economic destruction, or other nom du jour.

Still, stepping back from the constant news cycle can change how you see things. Of course, it can be very easy to catastrophize and think of everything going on around the world as the sound of a bell tolling the end times. But, it isn’t. If you read my blog posts about Kosovo or Romania’s elections, you’d see that they faced their own struggles and trials. The elections didn’t happen perfectly. There were inconsistencies. Trust wasn’t 100%.

And yet, the sun set and rose again. Citizens of Kosovo and Romania went to bed and woke up. Perhaps angry, but no less alive and no less Kosovans or Romanians. The same cannot always be said at every time around the world, after each election. Sometimes, elections turn out horribly and awful things happen. And then sometimes, elections turn out normally and things just happen. Think of countries where elections pass with little more than a few heated debates and some policy shifts — the kind of democratic process many of us hope for (and perhaps miss). Personally, as someone who really cares about this stuff, that’s been an incredibly important mindset to keep while doing this work. Anyone who knows me knows how easily I get excited about something, and how much I like to throw myself into a project I really like. And as such, it’s just as important to remember when to distance yourself and accept where the project ends and you begin.

All of that has been in my mind as I start my final days here. Both excitedly and sadly, I’m nearing the time of my internship here at International IDEA. While I’m feeling more and more ready for one final year of law school, any end is always sad. I’ve never been able to do anything like this before, and so — even at the much-less fun age of 27 than, say, 21 — I’ve been incredibly fortunate to live here for this summer, learn the work, and just enjoy life in an entirely new environment. It’s been hard at times, incredibly rewarding at times, and something I’ll never be able to take back. And for that I am grateful.

Until next week, for one last time,

Hank