CAMBRIDGE, England -- Elections set a new nation or a broken one on a course of renewal. Therefore, the conditions under which they are conducted -- the presence of security and the absence of intimidation, the degree of public participation (or apathy), including the openness to all segments of the society, the quality of political parties and candidates contesting the election -- are part of a free and fair electoral process.

Other questions are also important, such as why an election is being held, who is administering it and whether the time is right. None of the above is easily answered, but one way of evaluating electoral prospects and consequences is to look at the results of past elections.

There is good reason to compare the South Korean election of 1948 with the January-scheduled Iraqi election, which is likely to be judged against the recent and relatively trouble-free Afghan poll. The leadup to the Iraqi election, as was the case in South Korea, comes during a transfer of power from military occupation to a new national government, insurgency and political turmoil as well as controversy in terms of whether the election should be held at all.