Elections represent a critical opportunity for the ordinary citizen to hold a government to account. They also perform a vital function in facilitating and legitimising political change. But elections do not always deliver meaningful change and are at risk of being superficial if certain fundamental conditions are not in place. A greater focus is therefore needed on those channels that connect citizens and the state more substantively, including political parties and progress towards a fiscal contract.

In this ODI Opinion Leni Wild and Daniel Harris explore the potential for stronger links between the Ugandan state and its citizens, ahead of forthcoming elections on 18 February 2011.