Explaining party system institutionalization in Africa : from a broad comparison to a focus on Mozambique and Zambia
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The degree of institutionalization has become a paramount criterion to classify Third Wave party systems. Yet, in as much as institutionalization has attracted interest, it has also been surrounded by few conceptual challenges regarding measurement and scope. Moreover, there remain relatively open questions about the sources and mechanisms of varying degrees of party system institutionalization (PSI). This thesis tackles these issues through three questions: “To what extent are party systems in Sub-Saharan Africa institutionalized?” “Why do levels of PSI vary across countries and time?” and “What mechanisms underlie the different patterns of PSI?” These questions are sequentially analyzed through a mixed methods design that unfolds as follows. We start with applying a partly new model of PSI to 19 Sub-Saharan African countries that have held regular and competitive lower house elections up until 2011. This analysis stresses that institutionalization entails a two-fold variance; one in terms of degree and the other in terms of quality. Secondly, we seek to explain PSI variance using an original pooled time-series cross-sectional dataset that assembles a range of independent variables considered relevant by the literature on institutional and party system development. We argue that variance in PSI is influenced by exogenous (social structure, polity durability, institutional design) and endogenous factors (party and party system characteristics). Lastly, we seek mechanisms of causality behind the results given by the quantitative analysis focusing on Mozambique and Zambia, which differ both in degree and quality of PSI. Furthermore, other exogenous (critical juncture) and endogenous factors (interparty networks and party-citizen linkages) are added to the study, and semi-structured interviews, conducted during fieldwork, are used to enrich the narrative. The case study analysis shows that the way through which external factors, notably party funding/finance and electoral system, are modeled by internal factors such as the structure of the party system helps explain PSI variance.
Author: Edalina Rodrigues Sanches
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W180258352