One-party Dominance in African Democracies PDF Download

Author: Renske Doorenspleet
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Pub
ISBN: 9781588268693
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Is the dominance of one political party a problem in an emerging democracy, or simply an expression of the will of the people? Why has one-party dominance endured in some African democracies and not in others? What are the mechanisms behind the varying party-system trajectories? Considering these questions, the authors of this collaborative work use a rigorous comparative research design and rich case material to greatly enhance our understanding of one of the key issues confronting emerging democracies in sub-Saharan Africa.

Author: Renske Doorenspleet
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781626372658
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description

Author: R. Doorenspleet
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137011718
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Do party systems help or hinder democracy in Africa? Drawing lessons from different types of party systems in six African countries, this volume shows that party systems affect democracy in Africa in ways that are unexpectedly different from the relation between party systems and democracy observed elsewhere.

Author: Hermann Giliomee
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135297169
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
Democracies derive their resilience and vitality from the fact that the rule of a particular majority is usually only of a temporary nature. By looking at four case-studies, The Awkward Embrace studies democracies of a different kind; rule by a dominant party which is virtually immune from defeat. Such systems have been called Regnant or or Uncommon Democracies. They are characterized by distinctive features: the staging of unfree or corrupt elections; the blurring of the lines between government, the ruling party and the state; the introduction of a national project which is seen to be above politics; and the erosion of civil society. This book addresses major issues such as why one such democracy, namely Taiwan, has been moving in the direction of a more competitive system; how economic crises such as the present one in Mexico can transform the system; how government-business relations in Malaysia are affecting the base of the dominant party; and whether South Africa will become a one-party dominant system.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Comparative government
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316239489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the history of democracy in Africa and explains why the continent's democratic experiments have so often failed, as well as how they could succeed. Nic Cheeseman grapples with some of the most important questions facing Africa and democracy today, including whether international actors should try and promote democracy abroad, how to design political systems that manage ethnic diversity, and why democratic governments often make bad policy decisions. Beginning in the colonial period with the introduction of multi-party elections and ending in 2013 with the collapse of democracy in Mali and South Sudan, the book describes the rise of authoritarian states in the 1970s; the attempts of trade unions and some religious groups to check the abuse of power in the 1980s; the remarkable return of multiparty politics in the 1990s; and finally, the tragic tendency for elections to exacerbate corruption and violence.

Author: Rachel Beatty Riedl
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139916904
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
Why have seemingly similar African countries developed very different forms of democratic party systems? Despite virtually ubiquitous conditions that are assumed to be challenging to democracy - low levels of economic development, high ethnic heterogeneity, and weak state capacity - nearly two dozen African countries have maintained democratic competition since the early 1990s. Yet the forms of party system competition vary greatly: from highly stable, nationally organized, well-institutionalized party systems to incredibly volatile, particularistic parties in systems with low institutionalization. To explain their divergent development, Rachel Beatty Riedl points to earlier authoritarian strategies to consolidate support and maintain power. The initial stages of democratic opening provide an opportunity for authoritarian incumbents to attempt to shape the rules of the new multiparty system in their own interests, but their power to do so depends on the extent of local support built up over time.

Author: Sebastian Elischer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107033462
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
This book examines the effects of ethnicity on party politics in ten African countries. Sebastian Elischer finds that five party types exist: the mono-ethnic, the ethnic alliance, the catch-all, the programmatic, and the personalistic party. He uses these party types to show that the African political landscape is considerably more diverse than conventionally assumed.

Author: Thuynsma, Heather
Publisher: Africa Institute of South Africa
ISBN: 0798305142
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Political parties and the party system that underpins South Africa’s democracy have the potential to build a cohesive and prosperous nation. But in the past few years the ANC’s dominance has strained the system and tested it and its institutions’ fortitude. There are deeper issues of accountability that often spurn the Constitution and there is also a clear need to foster meaningful public participation and transparency. This volume offers a different and detailed assessment of the health of South Africa’s political system. This study intends to unravel the condition of the party system in South Africa and culminates in the question: Do South African parties promote or hinder democracy in the country? The areas of the party system that are known to require continued work are the weakness of democratic structures within parties, the perceived lack of responsibility of elected parliamentarians towards voters, non-transparent private partner financing structures and a lack of attractiveness of party-political commitment, especially for women. Experts in the respective fields address all of these areas in this book.

Author: Malte Kaßner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3658044381
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
Dominant parties and democracies – are they really strange bedfellows? Malte Kaßner sheds light on the relation between one-party dominance and democracy from a comparative perspective. The study examines the key question how different types of dominant parties influence democracy in multicultural societies with the help of two case studies: South Africa and Malaysia. Both countries are characterized by an ethnically, linguistically and religiously plural society. The author analyses the two dominant parties African National Congress (ANC) and United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and their implications on democracy in the two countries. The outcome suggests that one-party dominance per se cannot be assessed as beneficial or harmful for democratic development. Rather, dominant parties deserve a stronger analytical differentiation. Causal patterns contribute to such a differentiation.