This thesis posits the category of an electoral peace process to explore the dynamics of conflict management through democratisation and international intervention. Using a comparative study of peace processes in Cambodia and EI Salvador and drawing on the theoretical bases of the democratisation and conflict resolution literatures, it focuses on three broad research questions: Why do electoral peace processes appear and what infh~ences the forms they take? How do elections and conflict management relate to each other during such processes? What are the effects of electoral peace processes on democratisation? The thesis combines the advantages of detailed historical analysis with the theory-building opportunities of comparative work. By adopting a long-term and open-ended view it traces links between phases that are often treated as explanatorily distinct. It engages in building 'grounded theory' while addressing the relationships of these cases with extant understandings of conflict resolution and democratisation, supplementing and synthesising current knowledge about this crucial category of socio-political change.