2-80. Ultimately, stability operations strive to leave a host nation at peace with itself and its regional neighbors as well as sustainable without the support of external actors. However, these objectives do not necessarily equate to democratization, especially when interpreted to mean direct elections, despite it often being an end state condition in planning or directed by mandate. In societies already divided along ethnic, tribal, or religious lines, elections may further polarize factions. Generally, representative institutions (and there can be a wide array of representative structures depending on local context) offer the best means of reconstituting a government acceptable to the majority of the citizens. This is the broad intent of developing host-nation governance.