Introduction

Some thirty years ago, Benin’s Conférence des Forces Vives de la Nation paved the way for the end of Mathieu Kérékou rule and inaugurated a new democratic order in country (Banégas, 1995; Bratton & van de Walle, 1997). The successful transition in Benin pioneered the wave of democratisation in Africa and the demise of formal one-party rule in most countries. In the backcloth of domestic and international pressures, incumbent authoritarian parties embarked in significant liberalisation reforms..

The ending of southern Africa's tripartite dream: the cases of South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique

This article examines the rise and decline of tripartite experiments in southern Africa, focusing on South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, where tripartism emerged as part of the broader processes of democratisation and embedding democratic institutions. Why did these experiments largely fail to achieve the gains for labour that might have been anticipated? In each case, the lack of success can be ascribed to the ecosystemic dominance of neo-liberalism, returning growth fuelled by higher commodities prices, the changing structure of elites, dominant partyism, and structural weaknesses in both organised business and the labour movement

Electricity access in Mozambique : A critical policy analysis of investment, service reliability and social sustainability

Mozambique is a resource-rich energy hub, yet rural community access to electricity remains low, and urban centres suffer poor service quality. Aging transmission infrastructure, consumer growth, erratic generation, and extreme weather events exacerbate power cuts and oscillations that disrupt household activities and damage appliances. Through qualitative critical policy analysis of household (n=120) and public/private stakeholder (n=87) interviews in the four largest cities of Mozambique (Maputo, Matola, Beira and Nampula) we assess diverse perspectives on reliability, affordability, and investment/revenue-raising to meet SDG7 to provide clean, modern energy services for all. We find that although electricity tariffs commonly exceed household budgets, they remain politicised and are not cost-reflective – putting the national utility Electricidade de Moçambique E.P. (EDM) into growing debt and imminent insolvency, hindering its ability to ensure reliable, quality and affordable services. We recommend unbundling the electricity sector to enable EDM and the energy regulator (Autoridade Reguladora de Energia – ARENE) to be managed independently, and reducing state-induced inefficiencies that limit their ability to make transparent and fair decisions on tariffs, their institutional capacity and performance, and the development of the power sector

Elections as vehicles for change? Explaining different outcomes of democratic performance and government alternation in Africa

Does having more regular elections improve democratic performance in Africa? And have elections transformed the patterns of alternation in government? To answer these questions, two analyses are conducted drawing on an original dataset of 179 elections in 27 African countries, from the founding multiparty elections until 2019. The first tests the effects of alternation in government on democratic performance and shows that while alternation in government in the founding elections improves democratic performance, opposition victories in subsequent elections do not produce democratic gains. The second examines why alternation in government is more frequent in certain countries than in others; and reveals that the odds of turnover are increased by alternation in government in the founding elections, the level of political competition and the quality of elections. These findings contribute to literature linking elections, democracy and turnover in Africa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Political liberalization and democratization in African countries: a qualitative analysis

Libéralisation Politique et Démocratisation dans des Pays Africains: Une Analyse Qualitative Dans la littérature qui analyse les processus de démocratisation, on relève limportance de la discussion sur la nature des compromis institutionnels et des aspects historiques qui peuvent influencer leurs chances de succès. Les principales suggestions de cette littérature montrent certains compromis la combinaison du parlementarisme avec la représentation proportionnelle et le système à deux Chambres, ou celle du présidentialisme avec la représentation majoritaire, par exemple comme favorisant la démocratisation. À laide de la méthode booléenne, larticle cherche à appliquer ces hypothèses au contexte africain, et conclut que les principales suggestions de la littérature ne sont pas appropriées à lanalyse du phénomène de démocratisation en Afrique

Introduction

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio