Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty Democracy 3. Two-party systems are indicative of highly polarized ideological differences which in some cases undermine the smaller political parties; larger parties use (or rather abuse) them for their own political convenience. Kenya’s National Rainbow Coalition and Kenya African National Union (KANU) offer a glaring example of this. However, although the future of the National Rainbow Coalition is uncertain, given the current internal squabbles which have marred the relationship between some of its coalition partners, the likelihood that it will maintain some strong presence in Kenyan politics cannot be ruled out. 4. It is not inevitable that two-party systems develop into a multiparty system or a dominant-party system. For example, following the first multiparty democracy elections in Mozambique, Frelimo gained and the Mozambican National Resistance (Resistência Nacional Moçambicana, Renamo), which hinted at the possibility that the country was developing in the direction of a two-party system. However, following elections, Frelimo won votes and Renamo lost votes, and this tilted the balance towards a dominant-party system (the subject of the next subsection). 5. Two-party systems are not in themselves guarantors of political stability or otherwise, despite the fact that they are signifiers of polarized pluralism. Consider, for example, the political stability and almost near-perfect transition in Benin, as contrasted with the political turmoil of pre-civil war Sierra Leone and the current brutal and unwelcome development in Zimbabwe. The development of two-party systems in Africa could be welcome, particularly from a national integration viewpoint. Multiparty system states are more prone to ethnic and regional conflicts whereby each group creates its own political parties, leading to fragile coalition politics at best and political instability at worst. There is also the possibility that smaller political parties, although they provide a mechanism for electoral participation, will be marginalized by larger political parties, contributing to distrust of politics and politicians in the event of massive ‘floor-crossing’. 4.2.3 Dominant-party systems In most of the literature, dominant-party systems should not be confused with one-party systems, although they may at times exhibit similar characteristics. A dominant-party system is competitive in the sense that a number of parties compete for power in regular and popular elections, but is dominated by a single major party that consequently enjoys prolonged periods in power. In Africa, there are dominantparty systems in 16 countries (see Table 4.2).
No. Country Major political parties Party system 1 Angola Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Party of Labor) or MPLA ruled from 1975. Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) International Idea Table 4.2: Dominant-party systems and the major political parties 2 Botswana Botswana Democratic Party, Botswana National Front, Botswana Congress Party 3 Cameroon Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, Social Democratic Front, Democratic Union of Cameroon, Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, National Union for Democracy and Progress, Alliance for Democracy and Development 4 Chad Patriotic Salvation Movement, Rally for Democracy and Progress, Front of Action Forces for the Republic, National Rally for Development and Progress 5 Côte d’Ivoire Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire, Ivorian Popular Front, Ivorian Workers’ Party, Rally of the Republicans 6 Djibouti People’s Rally for Progress, Front for Restoration of Unity and Democracy, National Democratic Party, Social Democratic People’s Party, Union for a Democratic Change, Republican Alliance for Democracy 7 Equatorial Guinea Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea 8 Ethiopia Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Coalition for Unity and Democracy, United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement Single-party/dominantparty system Dominant-party system Dominant-party system Dominant-party system Dominant-party system Dominant-party system Dominant-party system Dominant-party system African Party and Electoral Systems
Page 1: Political Parties in Africa: Challe
Page 4 and 5: Political Parties in Africa: Challe
Page 6 and 7: Besides this report on political pa
Page 8 and 9: 5. Party Structures and Internal Or
Page 10 and 11: 0 Chapter 1 Methodology
Page 14 and 15: Mauritius Labour Party Mauritian Mi
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 2 Introduction
Page 20 and 21: 0 Political Parties in Africa: Chal
Page 24 and 25: Chapter 3 Context
Page 26 and 27: 3.1 The internal context 3.1.1 Soci
Page 36 and 37: 3.2 The external context Political
Page 40 and 41: 0 Chapter 4 African Party and Elect
Page 52 and 53: 52 Political Parties in Africa: Cha
Page 56 and 57: No. Country Electoral system for na
Page 64 and 65: • the Pan-African Parliament; •
Page 72 and 73: No. Country Parties 16 Associates P
Page 74 and 75: No. Country Political party Politic
Page 76 and 77: No. Country Political party Politic
Page 78 and 79: Chapter 5 Party Structures and Inte
Page 80 and 81: 5 5.1.1 Party structure 0 Political
Page 94 and 95: Country Constitutional crisis and l
Page 98 and 99:
Country Percentage of women in legi
Page 100 and 101:
00 Political Parties in Africa: Cha
Page 102 and 103:
0 Chapter 6 External Party Regulati
Page 104 and 105:
6.1 New parties—old theories? 0 P
Page 106 and 107:
0 Political Parties in Africa: Chal
Page 108 and 109:
6.3.1 The proscription model 0 Poli
Page 110 and 111:
12 13 6.3.5 The prescription model
Page 112 and 113:
Political Parties in Africa: Challe
Page 114 and 115:
114 Political Parties in Africa: Ch
Page 116 and 117:
116 Political Parties in Africa: Ch
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
No. Country Year of introduction 1
Page 124 and 125:
Country Enforcement authority Benin
Page 126 and 127:
Chapter 7 Conclusions and Recommend
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Acronyms and Abbreviations ACE Admi
Page 134 and 135:
References and Select Bibliography
Page 136 and 137:
Kadima, Denis, (ed.), The Politics
Page 138 and 139:
—‘Building Political Parties: R
Page 140 and 141:
About the Authors Per Nordlund is a
show all

Political Parties in Africa: Challenges for Sustained Multiparty

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?