Political Transition without Transformation: The Dialectic of Liberalization without Democratization in Kenya and Zambia

2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadrack Wanjala Nasong'o
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Transition ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Leadership Elections ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Incumbent Regime

Abstract:The decade from 1990 to 2000 saw a total of seventy-eight top leadership elections involving forty-three of the forty-eight sub-Saharan African countries. Of these, only twenty-one elections led to power transition from an incumbent to an opposition political party in nineteen countries. Paradoxically, even where there was such transition, authoritarian tendencies persisted. Focusing on Kenya and Zambia, this article argues and seeks to demonstrate that the limited number of transitions from an incumbent regime to an opposition party and the persistence of authoritarianism are a function of political liberalization without democratization of political institutions and rules of the political game.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE RUSSIAN REGIONAL POLITICAL PROCESS

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 63-67
Author(s):  
T. Beydina ◽  
◽  
N. Zimina ◽  
A. Novikova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Regional Interests

Political parties today are important elements of the regional political process. Parties, along with other political institutions, participate in the implementation of state policy within the region. The practice of recent years shows a negative trend in the creation of political parties, but those parties that are already registered and are actively fighting for political power at all stages of the Russian elections. Political parties participate in the regional political process to embrace the advantages of the political party space. These advantages are due to both objective factors (territorial potential, the economy of the region) and subjective reasons (personal factors associated with the rating of the leader, both the governor and the party coordinator, the nature of his acquaintance with the central financial department, and more). The study of the organization of power in the regions allows us to talk about its various modifications due to these factors. Political parties are a political institution, they represent an ideological, conceptual, personnel and electoral resource of any government. Regional branches of political parties in today’s political situation fully personify the needs of the regions and represent them at elections. They reflect regional interests, as well as the degree of democracy of the regional government

African Phoenix? Explaining the Electoral Performance of the Formerly Dominant Parties in Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ishiyama ◽  
John James Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Dominant Parties ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Environmental Shocks ◽  
Electoral Performance

In this article we address the question: what explains the varying degrees of success of the formerly dominant political parties in African oneparty states following ‘democratic’ transition? Indeed, political liberalization and democratization pose strong environmental shocks to formerly dominant parties and radically change the environment in which these parties exist. Such parties are faced with great pressures to adapt to their new environment. Why are some more successful than others? To address this question, we examine the evidence from 22 sub-Saharan African countries over 53 legislative elections from 1990 to 2003. We find that the legacies of different previous regimes, party incumbency and (to some extent) the degree of ethnolinguistic fractionalization, impact on the relative electoral success of the formerly dominant parties.

scholarly journals Troublemakers, Bystanders, and Pathbreakers

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-106
Author(s):  
Danielle Resnick
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Economic Time Series ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Economic Time ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Protest Activity

Do youth protest more than their older counterparts and is their main motivation for protest their preoccupation with unemployment? This chapter aims to answer these questions using various data sources of micro- and macro-economic time series data. Protest trends across cohorts from all Sub-Saharan African countries are first presented. A multivariate regression approach is then used to identify the significant drivers of mobilization using public opinion data. Although there are clear life cycle effects underlying protest behaviour such that younger individuals are more likely to protest than older ones, protest activity is a form of mobilization used by all age groups. For both young and old, education, engagement in activism, and deprivation of basic goods are strong predictors of protest regardless of time period. More recently, however, young people are more likely to protest if they are unemployed and if they lack trust in political institutions.

The Political Role of the African Middle Class: The Over-Politicization of an Elusive Category

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Darbon
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Sub Saharan

The African middle class (AMC) is an elusive category with high political significance. In spite of its vagueness and its controversial nature, this so-called social category is consistently used by a number of individual actors and institutions alike, including IO, NGOs, business interests, and political leaders in Africa for political purposes. The words “African middle class” are suggestive enough to produce new images of African social structures and turn the “hopeless continent” into a “miracle,” a new “powerhouse.” They are strong enough to grant new legitimacy to failing political leaders and the well off and to let people and academics alike anticipate the rise of democratic, stable, uncorrupted institutions. However, people “of the middle of the diamond” in Africa do not exist as a social community or a class. They do not share a common political identity. They have no political role of their own. The diversity of social subgroups may occasionally mobilize together, but for a short period of time and on highly different grounds. The political role of the AMC is as elusive as their mere existence. New social groups of limited prosperity are on the rise. However, they are far from making a class and mobilizing for political purposes. The rise of middle classes in emerging countries became a research theme at the beginning of the 2000s. The discussion took root in sub-Saharan African countries in the 2010s without any in-depth debate about its relevance. It was as if the AMC or classes already existed before the examination of a still very confused and heterogeneous set of transformations of the social structure of African societies was conducted. As a result, the AMC concept appears in almost all analyses as elastic, elusive, cobbled together, and uncertain as to its boundaries, its characteristics, its components, or its homogeneity. This confusion does not prevent authors from anticipating the meaning and effects of the AMC for political stability and democratization. Before studying how the people grouped behind this label can affect and be affected by politics and policies, it is necessary to understand how politically loaded this middle-class label is.

scholarly journals Introduction: Decolonization in the Congo (DRC)—Fifty Years Later

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-108
Author(s):  
Kasongo M. Kapanga
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Capital City ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Major Event ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Golden Jubilee ◽  
The 1960S

Fifty years after the occurrence of a major event, a golden jubilee, is often an opportunity for celebration and reminiscing over fond memories. Conventional wisdom would project such an event as a landmark likely to serve as a stepping stone toward greater achievements.As in most African countries on Independence Day, there were formalities in Kinshasa on June 30, 2010. But while the political establishment— flanked with foreign dignitaries, including King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium—watched a military parade to showcase the existence of political institutions, unusually large numbers of ordinary people went about their normal daily business. The general mood in both the capital city and elsewhere was one of indifference, reflecting the hardships of daily life and the challenges of mere survival: over the course of fifty years, the per capita income had been halved. The whole atmosphere had an eerie feeling, suggesting a tamed anxiety and a simmering anger from unfulfilled promises. The euphoria of the 1960s has withered into the obvious gloom made visible in the tattered infrastructure of the capital city. InJune 2010, the mood was more somber than celebratory.

scholarly journals PENGARUH DINAMIKA INTERNAL PARTAI TERHADAP STRATEGI POLITIK PARTAI AMANAT NASIONAL PASCA KONGRES IV TAHUN 2015

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratnia Solihah
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Internal Conflicts

Internal conflict within a political party commonplaces in political institutions, especially in the context of fighting for power or leadership in a party. But internal conflicts in the electoral process currently Chairman of the PAN congressional IV in Bali in 2015 does not lead to a prolonged conflict until the dualism of leadership of a party or departure of chairman candidate who lost in the political competition by setting up a new political party. Post-election of Chairman of the National Mandate Party Zulkifli Hasan replacing Hatta Rajasa. Raises the political dynamics of internal new has happened in the PAN, which also affects changes in political strategy PAN good political strategy for the internal PAN and external PAN, which aims to increase the capabilities of the party, the public trust/ society against the PAN and to improve electability PAN in elections in 2019. 

scholarly journals DEMOCRATIZATION PROCESS AND THE UNFOLDING HISTORICAL DIALETICS OF WOMEN POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 159-171
Author(s):  
Musa Kabir Umar ◽  
Mubarak Ahmed Mashi
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Women ◽  
The Political ◽  
African Region ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Status ◽  
Islam And Christianity ◽  
Sub Saharan

The main thrust of this paper is centered around examining the historical challenges confronting women political participation in the democratization process of the Sub-Saharan African countries. In the past, indeed, women were never equal to men in the political sphere, because in the precolonial Africa, they were being allowed by men to ruled kingdoms, established cities, launched military conquests, and formed states. However, they unfortunately lost out in such arrangements and the social status with the coming and spread of Islam and Christianity and later colonization. Although women are key actors in the democratization process world over, they have now been politically, socially and economically marginalized especially in the Sub-Saharan African region. Marginalization has been a great challenge to the women of the region due to some socio-religious beliefs that came to the fore particularly with the emergence of Islam and Christianity. Likewise, in the contemporary African politics women are relegated to the background, hence sidelined, without tolerable and equal participation in the governance of their own social formations. The paper, therefore, adopts historical and descriptive approaches to argue that despite the increasing number of women in politics, the political landscape is still largely occupied by men. This is seen in the challenges facing the active political participation of women in the process such as cultural factors, lack of adequate representation and consultation in the political parties’ decision-making processes, gender discrimination, lack of fund and so on which the paper revealed. The paper concludes that the involvement of West African women in the democratization process would provide a new track in the developmental agendas of the entire region. And, a specific step to promote gender equality which would advance the status of women and young girls in the process of democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa is greatly needed.

Blocking Opposition

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-215
Author(s):  
Aldo Madariaga
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Liberalization ◽  
Political Expression ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Representation Of Interests

This chapter analyzes the opposition blockade with respect to the political expression and representation of parties opposed to neoliberalism. It uses sources to investigate how neoliberal social blocs used political institutions to block the representation of adversaries in formal politics, including electoral rules, executive powers, veto players, and lustration. It also recounts the processes of economic and political liberalization in Latin America and Eastern Europe, wherein economic reforms were expected to bring immediate costs to the population and positive results in the long-term. The chapter discusses how the opposition blockade affected the political expression and representation of interests opposed to neoliberalism through key aspects of the institutional design of the new polities. It describes the design of electoral laws as the most successful way of limiting the power of political and societal actors opposing neoliberalism.

Deepening Beliefs and Institutional Change (2002–2014)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. Alston ◽  
Marcus André Melo ◽  
Bernardo Mueller ◽  
Carlos Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Exchange Rate Movements ◽  
Economic Elites ◽  
Initial Shock ◽  
High Uncertainty

This chapter discusses institutional deepening and the subsequent economic and political outcomes in the two terms of Lula and first term of Dilma. It also advances three main arguments. First, markets, as evidenced by exchange rate movements, did not anticipate the smooth political transition process from Cardoso to Lula. High uncertainty about a Lula presidency was the norm. After the initial shock resulting from the electoral results, Lula drastically reduced uncertainty by providing credible evidence that his administration would not abandon fiscal and monetary orthodoxy. Second, the new beliefs and institutions effectively constrained political and economic elites in their interaction, thereby enabling competitive processes in the political and economic arenas. The established political institutions locked-in and reinforced the direction of change by affecting the incentives facing individuals, organizations, and politicians.

ANALYSIS OF THE MODERN POLITICAL PARTIES’ FUNCTIONALITY IN RUSSIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
N. Zimina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Program Leaders ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Goals And Objectives

Modern political parties and their regional branches become an integral part of the political system of society, an important participant in public administration. They have their own organizational and legal basis, have their own charter, program, leaders, their own goals and objectives, and perform certain functions. One of the goals of any political party is to participate in the political life of society, in solving its issues. One of the party’s tasks is to participate in public administration, as a means of representing the interests of the population during elections at various levels and in the inter-election period. Political parties are a political institution and represent the ideological, conceptual, personnel and electoral resources of any government. The analysis of the political parties’ functionality shows how dynamic they are and how they follow their statutory goals and objectives. In this context, the research interest is the political parties’ functionality in the regional political process in the light of the changing legal field. The adopted amendments to the federal legislation on elections and on political parties have radically changed a number of conditions governing the procedure for the establishment and functioning of political parties and their regional branches in the regional dimension. The amendments made to the federal law “On Political Parties” have changed the conditions for the creation and operation of political parties, in particular, the minimum number of members of a political party when it is created has been reduced to 500 members; the approaches to voting have been changed. These changes correspond to the state of the modern political process and are aimed at the development of political institutions, including political parties

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