Governing from the opposition?’: tracing the impact of EFF’s ‘niche populist politics’ on ANC policy shifts

In December 2017, South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, announced that they will adopt expropriation of land without compensation and free higher education for 90% of students. These policy positions had been associated with the radical left-wing EFF party. This article asks whether the EFF influenced the ANC policy shifts and if they did, how? Leveraging Williams (2006)’s theory of peripheral party impact and the process tracing method, the study finds evidence of EFF direct causal contribution on ANC policy shift on land reform and strong grounds for inferring indirect influence of the EFF on ANC policy shift on higher education funding. Data sources included policy documents, manifestos, speeches by ANC and EFF political leaders and parliamentary motions. The study contributes to the literature on peripheral party impact and understanding populism in Africa

Whose building? tracing the politics of the Chinese government-funded parliament building in Lesotho

When the government of China offered to fund the construction of Lesotho’s parliament building, pre-existing building plans developed by Lesotho government bureaucrats were set aside. Instead, Chinese firms designed and constructed the new parliament building. These firms continue to be responsible for the maintenance of the building. In this article I explore the rationale and impact of this approach through tracing the story of how this building project was carried out and discussing the extent to which the finished product met the needs and interests of the Parliament of Lesotho. I argue that China used the parliament building project to generate a sustained presence in Lesotho’s political and diplomatic orbits. This article contributes to literature on China-Africa through problematising the notion of African agency in the relationship. In particular, the case study builds on Rich and Recker’s analysis of the China-Africa relationship, revealing the complex and nuanced ways in which African agency plays out or is undermined. Key words; African Legislatures, African State architecture, China-Africa, China aid, Lesotho, Parliament of Lesotho

Purpose-built parliament buildings and the institutionalisation of parliament in Lesotho and Malawi

Largely inspired by western donor good governance agenda, the current African parliaments literature has overlooked the significance of new parliament buildings that have been constructed by China and tends to place a premium on appraising the performance of parliaments and parliamentarians in executing their legislative, representation, oversight and constituency support. While understanding how parliaments perform is important and necessary, it does not sufficiently address all the ways in which these parliaments are establishing themselves as sustainable political institutions. By disregarding the new parliament buildings, the literature potentially undermines prospects of a wider understanding of the development of African parliamentary institutions. This article leverages the Chinese government donated parliament buildings in Lesotho and Malawi to make a theoretical and comparative case for the utility of discussing the concept of African legislative institutionalisation through and in juxtaposition to, the parliamentary built environment. I find that although there are stylistic and operational differences, the new parliament buildings in Lesotho and Malawi have provided a bespoke parliamentary built environment, enabled the expansion of a cohort of public officials working on legislative business and facilitated the procedural activities of the institution