Presented By: Interdisciplinary Workshop in Comparative Politics (IWCP)
The Curious Rise and Fall of African Authoritarian Successor Parties
Nicolas van de Walle (Professor of Government, Cornell University)
This week CPW is hosting Nicolas van de Walle (Professor of Government, Cornell University). Nic will be presenting, "The Curious Rise and Fall of African Authoritarian Successor Parties", a chapter from his forthcoming Cambridge University Press book, Electoral Politics in Africa: Continuity in Change since 1990. The book is co-authored with Jaimie Bleck (Assistant Professor, Notre Dame).
Several hundred multi-party elections have been held in 46 of the 49 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa since a wave of democratization swept across the region in the early 1990s. This book explores the role of electoral politics in Africa from multi-party transitions drawing on cross-national data and more in-depth analysis of 8 countries: Senegal, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Kenya and Mozambique. Multi-party elections have been institutionalized during this quarter century but, we do not observe broader democratic consolidation in most of these countries. Instead the democratization of the early 1990s remains incomplete in much of the region to this day. Despite much apparent change since 1990, many of the same men, and rather fewer women, remain in positions of power today. On the whole, and with notable exceptions, the same political class that dominated national politics before transitions continue to do so.
This book will both document the paradoxical disjuncture between a rapidly changing Africa and stagnant electoral politics and investigate its implications for electoral politics. Given the regularization of multi-party elections, coupled with the change in media landscape and demographic trends including higher growth rates, urbanization, and unprecedented access to schooling –why do we observe relative political stasis? We argue that two key factors promote continuity: presidentialism and the “liability of newness.” These factors enhance the sitting president’s incumbency advantage. Still, elections can serve as “political moments” which generate substantial change. In very young and still unsettled electoral systems, in addition, we argue that each election also provides a moment of temporary political fluidity. This political opportunity can result in substantial democratic gains, or conversely, backsliding.
Several hundred multi-party elections have been held in 46 of the 49 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa since a wave of democratization swept across the region in the early 1990s. This book explores the role of electoral politics in Africa from multi-party transitions drawing on cross-national data and more in-depth analysis of 8 countries: Senegal, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Kenya and Mozambique. Multi-party elections have been institutionalized during this quarter century but, we do not observe broader democratic consolidation in most of these countries. Instead the democratization of the early 1990s remains incomplete in much of the region to this day. Despite much apparent change since 1990, many of the same men, and rather fewer women, remain in positions of power today. On the whole, and with notable exceptions, the same political class that dominated national politics before transitions continue to do so.
This book will both document the paradoxical disjuncture between a rapidly changing Africa and stagnant electoral politics and investigate its implications for electoral politics. Given the regularization of multi-party elections, coupled with the change in media landscape and demographic trends including higher growth rates, urbanization, and unprecedented access to schooling –why do we observe relative political stasis? We argue that two key factors promote continuity: presidentialism and the “liability of newness.” These factors enhance the sitting president’s incumbency advantage. Still, elections can serve as “political moments” which generate substantial change. In very young and still unsettled electoral systems, in addition, we argue that each election also provides a moment of temporary political fluidity. This political opportunity can result in substantial democratic gains, or conversely, backsliding.
Co-Sponsored By
Explore Similar Events
-
Loading Similar Events...
