232 research outputs found
Crafting political institutions in Africa : electoral systems and systems of government in Rwanda and Zambia compared
Scholars of institutional design attribute large importance to the choice of new institutions. The comparative analysis of how Rwanda and Zambia crafted their new electoral systems and the systems of government regards procedural, structural and rational choice variables which may influence the option for particular solutions. External influences and the type of transition are determinants that can decide which actors make their interests prevail. The degree of innovation or conservatism of new institutions is mainly a result of the speed of the process and the kind of actors involved. However, rational reflections on how to produce legitimacy and minimize personal risks which take into consideration the state of conflict in the country decide on the speed and on innovative outcomes. The structured analysis of only two cases uncovers already that it is rather difficult to realise the transfer of design recommendations into reality.Die groĂe Zahl an Veröffentlichungen zum Thema âinstitutional designâ zeigt, welche Bedeutung die Politikwissenschaft der Wahl neuer politischer Institutionen beimisst. Diese vergleichende Untersuchung der Institutionengestaltung in Ruanda und Sambia berĂŒcksichtigt historisch-prozessuale, strukturelle und interessenorientierte Variablen, die auf die Entscheidung fĂŒr bestimmte Wahl- und Regierungssysteme Einfluss ausĂŒben können. Es zeigt sich, dass externe Faktoren und der Verlaufstyp der Transition entscheidend darauf einwirken können, welche Akteure in der Lage sind, ihre Interessen durchzusetzen. Die Prozessgeschwindigkeit und die Struktur der beteiligten Akteure sind maĂgebend dafĂŒr, wie innovativ oder konservativ die neuen Institutionen gestaltet werden. Das Interesse an LegitimitĂ€t und persönlicher Risikominimierung bestimmen wiederum die Prozessgeschwindigkeit und die Gestaltung innovativer Institutionen. Diese rationalen Entscheidungen berĂŒcksichtigen dabei die Konfliktsituation im Lande. Der strukturierte Vergleich zweier FĂ€lle legt nahe, dass der Transfer von Empfehlungen des institutional design als schwierig gelten muss
Crafting Political Institutions in Africa. Electoral Systems and Systems of Government in Rwanda and Zambia Compared
Scholars of institutional design attribute large importance to the choice of new institutions. The comparative analysis of how Rwanda and Zambia crafted their new electoral systems and the systems of government regards procedural, structural and rational choice variables which may influence the option for particular solutions. External influences and the type of transition are determinants that can decide which actors make their interests prevail. The degree of innovation or conservatism of new institutions is mainly a result of the speed of the process and the kind of actors involved. However, rational reflections on how to produce legitimacy and minimize personal risks which take into consideration the state of conflict in the country decide on the speed and on innovative outcomes. The structured analysis of only two cases uncovers already that it is rather difficult to realise the transfer of design recommendations into reality.institutions, institutional design, transition, electoral system, Rwanda, Zambia
The Power of Proximity: Strategic Decisions in African Party Politics
Recent publications suggest that exclusively ethnoregional parties are as rare in sub- Saharan Africa as elsewhere. At the same time, the idea that ethnicity is a very special feature of African party politics persists. The paper acknowledges the general relevance of ethnicity in party competition but emphasizes the level on which it becomes important. It develops a microbehavioral approach which pays particular attention to the strategic choices of party elites in order to supplement the dominant structuralist thinking in party research on Africa. An in-depth evaluation of detailed election data from Burkina Faso shows that strategies which rely on personal proximity between the voter and the candidates influence the partiesâ success to a great extent. Parties maximize their chances of winning seats if they concentrate their limited resources on the home localities of leading party members. Hence, African party politics are less dependent on ethnic demography than is often implied but more open to change through elite behavior.political parties, Burkina Faso, elections, local mobilization, resource efficiency, son of the soil
The Effects of Electoral Institutions in Rwanda: Why Proportional Representation Supports the Authoritarian Regime
While much has been written about the special design of Rwandaâs judiciary in order to handle the aftermath of the genocide in 1994, other institutional actions resulting from the 2003 constitution have rarely been addressed in research. However, the second (partial) par-liamentary elections in September 2008 revealed some of the implications which the care-fully designed electoral system has for Rwandaâs political development. As a starting point, the paper emphasises the need to link the debates on institutional design in divided societies with elections in authoritarian regimes. Under different regime types, âinstitutional engi-neersâ may pursue different goals. The paper concludes that in the case of Rwanda propor-tional representation (PR) has been implemented to support undemocratic goals. PR limits the local accountability of politicians in a political environment in which the government is not controlled by a democratic opposition. Thus, Rwandaâs current PR system facilitates the maintenance of authoritarian power in the country, whereas small constituencies would es-tablish closer links between the local populations and their representatives.Rwanda, electoral authoritarianism, electoral system, parliament, constituency size
Measuring Party Institutionalization in Developing Countries: A New Research Instrument Applied to 28 African Political Parties
The institutionalization of political parties is said to be important for democratic development, but its measurement has remained a neglected area of research. We understand the institutionalization of political organizations as progress in four dimensions: roots in society, level of organization, autonomy, and coherence. On this basis we construct an Index of the Institutionalization of Parties (IIP), which we apply to 28 African political parties. The IIP uses extensive GIGA survey and fieldwork data. Initial results reveal a more differentiated degree of institutionalization than is commonly assumed. In addition to illustrating overall deficits in party institutionalization, the IIP highlights an astonishing variance between individual parties andâto a lesser extentâbetween national aggregates. Further research on party institutionalization remains necessary, particularly regarding its causes and consequences.Political parties, sub-Saharan Africa, institutionalization, stability, legitimacy
Ethnicity and Party Systems in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa
Despite earlier assumptions that ethnicity is a central feature of African party systems, there is little substantial evidence for this claim. The few studies with an empirical foundation rarely rely on individual data and are biased in favor of Anglophone Africa. This paper looks at four Francophone countries, drawing on four representative survey polls in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. Multivariate regression models and bivariate control tools reveal that ethnicity matters as a determinant of party preference, but that its impact is generally rather weak and differs with regard to party systems and individual parties. âEthnic partiesâ in the strict sense are almost completely absent, and only the Beninese party system is substantially âethnicized.â In particular, regional ties between voters and leadersârather than ethnic affiliation aloneâdeserve attention in the future study of voting behavior in Africa.political parties, ethnic groups, voting intentions, multivariate logistic regression
The Power of Proximity : Strategic Decisions in African Party Politics
Recent publications suggest that exclusively ethnoregional parties are as rare in sub-
Saharan Africa as elsewhere. At the same time, the idea that ethnicity is a very special feature
of African party politics persists. The paper acknowledges the general relevance of
ethnicity in party competition but emphasizes the level on which it becomes important. It
develops a microbehavioral approach which pays particular attention to the strategic
choices of party elites in order to supplement the dominant structuralist thinking in party
research on Africa. An in-depth evaluation of detailed election data from Burkina Faso
shows that strategies which rely on personal proximity between the voter and the candidates
influence the partiesâ success to a great extent. Parties maximize their chances of
winning seats if they concentrate their limited resources on the home localities of leading
party members. Hence, African party politics are less dependent on ethnic demography
than is often implied but more open to change through elite behavior.Die neuere Literatur legt nahe, dass exklusive ethnoregionale Parteien im subsaharischen
Afrika Àhnlich selten sind wie andernorts. Zugleich besteht die Vorstellung fort, dass
EthnizitĂ€t fĂŒr afrikanische Parteiensysteme besonders wichtig sei. Dieser Beitrag stellt deshalb
nicht die grundsÀtzliche Bedeutung von EthnizitÀt im Parteienwettbewerb in Frage,
sondern widmet sich der spezifischen gesellschaftlichen Ebene, auf der EthnizitÀt wichtig
wird. Der hier entwickelte mikrobehaviorale Ansatz, der strategischen Entscheidungen
von Parteieliten besondere Beachtung schenkt, soll die vorherrschende strukturalistische
Herangehensweise der Parteienforschung zu Afrika ergÀnzen. Eine exemplarische Untersuchung
detaillierter Wahldaten aus Burkina Faso zeigt, dass Strategien, die auf der persönlichen
NĂ€he zwischen WĂ€hler und Kandidat aufbauen, den Parteierfolg stark beeinflussen.
Parteien maximieren ihre Wahlchancen, wenn sie ihre begrenzten Ressourcen auf
die Heimatorte fĂŒhrender Parteimitglieder konzentrieren. Infolgedessen ist der afrikanische
Parteienwettbewerb weit weniger an die ethnische Demographie gebunden als hÀufig
unterstellt wird, sondern durch Elitenverhalten wandlungsfÀhig
Verfassungsgerichte in Westafrika : unabhÀngige Krisenmanager?
Studiens syfte Àr att studera de bakomliggande sociala faktorerna som kan bidra till utvecklingen av datorspelsberoende. Studien genomfördes kvalitativt genom att intervjua fem personer som sjÀlva ansett sig vara datorspelsberoende. Tidigare forskning som berört detta Àmne har handlat om hur anvÀndare pÄverkas av spelet, och inte vad som lett fram tillatt det intensiva spelandet pÄbörjades. Som teoretisk utgÄngspunkt för studien valdes den utvecklingsekologiska modellen som anvÀndes för att studera individen utifrÄn ett mikro-,meso-, exo-, makroperspektiv. VÄra data visar resultat frÀmst pÄ en mikronivÄ dÀr vi fann att en problematik pÄ denna nivÄ fanns genomgÄende för samtliga informanter. Vi fann ocksÄ att datorspelsberoende passar in pÄ de kriterier för beroende som satts upp av American Psychiatric Association trots att datorspelsberoende inte ingÄr i de erkÀnda beroendena
Measuring Party Institutionalization in Developing Countries : A New Research Instrument Applied to 28 African Political Parties
The institutionalization of political parties is said to be important for democratic development,
but its measurement has remained a neglected area of research. We understand the
institutionalization of political organizations as progress in four dimensions: roots in society,
level of organization, autonomy, and coherence. On this basis we construct an Index
of the Institutionalization of Parties (IIP), which we apply to 28 African political parties.
The IIP uses extensive GIGA survey and fieldwork data. Initial results reveal a more differentiated
degree of institutionalization than is commonly assumed. In addition to illustrating
overall deficits in party institutionalization, the IIP highlights an astonishing variance
between individual parties andâto a lesser extentâbetween national aggregates.
Further research on party institutionalization remains necessary, particularly regarding its
causes and consequences.Die Institutionalisierung politischer Parteien wird als wichtiger Faktor fĂŒr die Demokratieentwicklung
bezeichnet, deren Messung wurde in der Forschung jedoch vernachlÀssigt. In
diesem Artikel wird die Institutionalisierung politischer Organisationen als fortschreitende
VerstÀrkung der Verwurzelung in der Gesellschaft, des Organisationsniveaus, der Autonomie
und KohÀrenz verstanden. Auf dieser Grundlage schlagen wir ein neues Messinstrument
fĂŒr die Institutionalisierung von Parteien vor. Dieser Index der Institutionalisierung
von Partien (IIP) wird anschlieĂend auf 28 afrikanische Parteien angewendet. Die Ergebnisse
deuten darauf hin, dass die Institutionalisierung politischer Parteien in Afrika wesentlich
differenzierter zu betrachten ist als bisher angenommen. Neben der Darstellung allgemeiner
Defizite in der Institutionalisierung der Parteien enthĂŒllt der IIP auch erstaunliche Unterschiede
zwischen den einzelnen Parteien und untersuchten LĂ€ndern insgesamt. ZukĂŒnftige
Forschung sollte sich besonders der Ursachen- und Wirkungsanalyse widmen
- âŠ