Abstract
This research explores the impact of electoral exercises in countries with weak democratic traditions. Examination centers on the 1973 plebiscite conducted by the colonels in Greece and the 1986 "snap" presidential election held by President Marcos. Performance failures in the economic, social, and political arenas generated sufficient pressures on both regimes to use the polls in a desperate effort to reinvigorate sagging popularity. But rather than rescue the incumbents, the election campaigns exposed the lack of legitimacy, established credible oppositions, and revealed social ferment. As a result, elements in the respective armed forces mobilized to topple these regimes and help bring about democratization.