Democratic Enculturation: Explaining Inaugural Party Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa
Political scientists presume robust political parties regularly move in and out of power in democratic regimes. On the African continent, this pattern is isolated to a handful of countries; instead, the majority have either weak parties that lack stability and branding – making it difficult for citizens to understand what they stand for – or dominant party systems, where one party continues to hold power for decades despite regular elections. Among this latter group of countries are twelve where the inaugural political party after national independence is still in power as of 2022. While most of these ruling parties wield incumbency advantages to diminish the electoral threat of opposition parties, they also span both democracies and autocracies, and many appear to be significantly popular. This dissertation examines two such countries – Botswana and Zimbabwe – to help explain inaugural party resilience in the African setting.
First, inaugural ruling parties continue to benefit from nationalist branding, the strength of which is determined by the degree of struggle against colonialist regimes. The party leaders may be perceived by citizens as both the founding fathers of the nation and protectors against neo-colonialists. Opposition parties, seeking to displace the inaugural party, may be labelled as unpatriotic or controlled by Western governments. Inaugural ruling parties may be integrated into the military, state bureaucracy, and national vision of the country in ways that create both material and symbolic advantages that cannot be rivaled by opposition parties. Party systems with inaugural ruling parties are simply different than those without, and analyzing both groups of countries together may be problematic when working to understand African party systems more broadly.
In addition to the historical background of parties, cultural factors drive key differences between Western and African political systems, generally speaking. This dissertation shows that, in both Botswana and Zimbabwe, citizens with more traditional and authority-centric views are much more likely to align with the inaugural parties. Settings with high collectivism reinforce and encourage ruling party loyalty. Furthermore, beliefs around spiritual causation in politics, rooted in traditional religion, also reinforces support for rulers. Many citizens experience strongly formed conceptions of authority which are mirrored across family, community, and nation, where the president and ruling party hold significant familial authority, even among non-supporters. These social dynamics help explain the mechanisms of inaugural party popular support over long periods of time.
This dissertation argues that historical circumstances and cultural bases of authority are essential for explaining continued inaugural ruling party dominance in countries as diverse as Botswana and Zimbabwe. These explanations are complementary to the dominant narrative of ruling party survival in Botswana being driven by strong economic management and development performance, as well as the dominant Zimbabwean narrative that political violence and corruption are the primary reasons for its ruling party longevity. Citizens in both countries point to their ruling party’s nationalistic branding and continuity and stability as the strongest reasons for inaugural ruling party survival.
The role of culture raises questions around the application and congruence of liberal democratic party politics across diverse contexts. Ruling party supporters in autocratic post-liberation countries appear to have more authoritarian attitudes, but citizens may also hold different democratic priorities as informed by on cultural distinctions. Where the Western democratic tradition strongly emphasizes voting and the capitalist values of property, competition, and written contracts, the African democratic tradition emphasizes censuses, deliberation, and localized participation, as exemplified through traditional governing institutions. Comparing the manifestations of democratic practices across distinct cultures helps provide a more informed understanding of formal party politics in comparative perspective.
History
Date Modified
2022-07-30Defense Date
2022-06-06CIP Code
- 45.1001
Research Director(s)
Michael J. CoppedgeCommittee Members
Scott Mainwaring Robert DowdDegree
- Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Level
- Doctoral Dissertation
Language
- English
Alternate Identifier
1337867760Library Record
6262996OCLC Number
1337867760Program Name
- Political Science