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Bolivia

Date: Jan. 25, 2009 and Dec. 6, 2009

Who's running: A constitutional referendum supported by president Evo Morales and opposed by governors of Bolivia's eastern states

What's at stake: Bolivians will go to the polls on Jan. 25 for a referendum on a new national constitution. Championed by President Evo Morales, the new constitution would empower Bolivia's indigenous majority and increase state control over the economy. Reforms will establish a limit on the size of large land holdings and provide for the redistribution of revenues from Bolivia's gas fields. The referendum is fiercely opposed by Bolivians in the wealthier, gas-rich eastern regions, many of whom are of European or mixed-race descent. Tensions have occasionally spilled into violence, as anti-Morales protesters seized government offices and launched a series of strikes in August.

Nevertheless, observers expect the constitution to gain the support of a majority of voters. Assuming that occurs, early elections will by held on Dec. 6, 2009 for president, vice-president, and congress. If Morales wins both contests, he will have cemented his legacy on Bolivian politics. Expect the governors of Bolivia's four eastern states to actively campaign against Morales in both elections.

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Israel

Date: February 10, 2009

Who's running: Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Tzipi Livni (Kadima), and Ehud Barak (Labor)

What at stake: The outcome of Israel's assault on Gaza will likely affect the course of the snap elections to the Israeli Knesset, triggered following the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Kadima candidate Tzipi Livni is currently serving as foreign minister, while Labor's Ehud Barak is the defense minister. Livni's primary challenger is Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, who brought Likud back from a crushing defeat in 2006 to emerge as the favorite to be Israel's next prime minister. Kadima, meanwhile, is attempting to poach the left-leaning voters of Labor, which risks descending into irrelevancy.

Netanyahu has a well-deserved reputation for hawkishness on security matters, earned during his previous term as prime minister and his opposition to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan. His election would challenge the negotiations between Syria and Israeli that have been held under Turkish mediation, and would likely make the removal of major settler outposts in the West Bank impossible. With Hamas also holding a firm grip on power in Gaza, the two equally intransient foes would be poised for more violent confrontations.

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South Africa

Date: Sometime between March and May, 2009

Who's running: The African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of the People (COPE), and the Democratic Alliance (DA)

What's at stake: The ANC has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, but some cracks may finally be showing in the run-up to this spring's election. Jacob Zuma, who defeated outgoing President Thabo Mbeki last year to emerge as head of the ANC, has long been a divisive figure in South African politics. In 2005, Zuma faced charges that he raped the daughter of a prominent ANC family, for which he was later acquitted. Zuma dodged another legal bullet in September 2008, when a judge dismissed, on procedural grounds, longstanding charges against Zuma of corruption in a South African arms deal.

The controversies surrounding Zuma, as well as his narrow margin of victory over Mbeki, has created fissures in the ANC. Mbeki loyalists, led by former Defense Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, bolted the ANC to form COPE. The rival party has already performed impressively in by-election campaigns and has attracted close to 500,000 supporters, according to party leaders.

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The Palestinian Authority

Date: "Very soon," perhaps in April

Who's Running: Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas's Ismail Haniyah

What's at stake: In the wake of Israel's assault on Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas victory in the presidential and legislative elections - if they are held at all -- for the Palestinian Authority would signal Palestinian endorsement of Hamas's implacable resistance to the Israeli regime. In the absence of reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, Abbas will most likely face off against Ismail Haniyah, a Hamas leader and former prime minister of the PA. Hamas emerged victorious in the 2006 legislative elections, wining 74 seats to Fatah's 45.

Hamas staged an armed takeover of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2006, triggering a rift between the two factions which persists to this day. These elections could allow the Palestinian parties to form a unified political front against Israel, or cement the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah. Polls taken before the Israeli offensive showed Abbas and Fatah leading by a healthy margin in both the West Bank and Gaza. Abbas had hoped that a new round of elections, or the threat of them, could force Hamas to take a more accommodating outlook towards reconciliation talks. The duration and the severity of the Israeli campaign in Gaza, however, could leave his plans in disarray.