Suchergebnisse

What keeps politicians together in a political party? Shared ideologies and policy goals go far towards answering that question in established democracies, but in Africa political parties hardly differ from each other in their policy programmes. This leaves party cohesion as an open question. In this study, I attempt to explain the decisions to stay with or defect from political parties made by Members of Parliament in Malawi -- a sub-Saharan African country that clearly lacks a salient ideological cleavage. I show that re-election prospects and joining the government significantly determine patterns of party switching. I find mixed evidence that ethno-regional linkages account for loyalty, and no evidence that governing party politicians leave their parties to avoid blame for poor government performance. This study adds to the existing literature on party switching with theory and evidence from a new region. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

What keeps politicians together in a political party? Shared ideologies and policy goals go far towards answering that question in established democracies, but in Africa political parties hardly differ from each other in their policy programmes. This leaves party cohesion as an open question. In this study, I attempt to explain the decisions to stay with or defect from political parties made by Members of Parliament in Malawi – a sub-Saharan African country that clearly lacks a salient ideological cleavage. I show that re-election prospects and joining the government significantly determine patterns of party switching. I find mixed evidence that ethno-regional linkages account for loyalty, and no evidence that governing party politicians leave their parties to avoid blame for poor government performance. This study adds to the existing literature on party switching with theory and evidence from a new region.

This article reports on early results of a research project examining popular support for media freedoms in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from the Afrobarometer surveys, as well as other sources, we specifically examine cross-national variation in support for media freedoms, seeking to account for the national-level factors that affect that variation. Our findings suggest the importance of two factors in particular. The first is the level of polarization in society. Using a novel measure of this factor, we find that higher levels of polarization are associated with lower levels of support for media freedoms. The second factor is the level of professionalism characterizing the media sector. We find that lower levels of media professionalism drive down support for media freedoms. Further research will explore these through the use of multilevel analysis that incorporates investigation of individual-level factors shaping support for media freedoms.

On 19 May 2009, Malawi held its fourth multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections, which were hailed domestically and internationally as largely freend fair. As the presidential candidate of the newly formed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika was re-elected, and, for the first time in Malawi's multiparty era, a single party won a majority of seats in parliament. Because the majority party is also the president's party, Malawi's fourth term of democracy will begin with another first: a united executive and legislature.

Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, was re-elected Malawi's president on 19 May 2009. Not only did Mutharika win with the largest majority enjoyed by a presidential candidate in Malawi's 15 years as a democracy, but it was also the first time in Malawi's history that a single party (DPP) won a majority of parliamentary seats, resulting in a united executive & legislature. Malawi's strong presidential system of government is described. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]