Download or read book Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi written by Dan Banik and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-10 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Malawi is among the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has witnessed significant improvements in relation to meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. It exhibits some of the main challenges facing African democracies while they attempt to consolidate the benefits of democratisation. Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi critically analyses opportunities and constraints related to the impact of democracy on development in one of the world’s poorest countries. The book explores how, and to what extent, processes related to democratic and economic governance can be strengthened in order to make political and administrative authorities more responsive to development needs. It also considers characteristics of successful implementation of public policy and the effective and timely delivery of basic services in local contexts; increased citizen participation and dialogue with local government authorities; factors that enable civil society organisations to hold political and administrative officials to account; and better utilisation of academic research for improved evidence-based policy formulation and implementation. This volume will be of great interest to scholars in development studies, African studies, politics, law and anthropology, as well as policymakers and those interested in democracy, governance, human rights and the implementation of anti-poverty programmes, development administration and decentralisation.
Download or read book Opposition Political Parties and Democracy Consolidation Nexus written by Kenasi Kasinje and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2012-02 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent political studies on the nature of political interaction within and amongst political parties in Malawi shows that the focus has largely been on the analysis of macro and micro level political interactions as a means to democratic consolidation. These studies have exhaustively managed to identify lack of intra-party democracy and poor governance as some of the major factors that impinge on democratic consolidation in Malawi. However, few studies have been conducted with the special focus on the role of the strong opposition political parties in consolidating democracy in Malawi. This book however, takes a different approach to the question of democratic consolidation in Malawi. This book aims at establishing the relationship between performance of opposition parties in parliament and democratic consolidation and how the performance of strong opposition parties in parliament affect democracy consolidation. The central argument in this book is that, vigorous parliamentary opposition parties undoubtedly enhance consolidation of democracy, such that in emerging democracies like Malawi, there is need to have strong parliamentary opposition parties to check government actions.
Download or read book Public Opinion and the Consolidation of Democracy in Malawi written by Maxton G. Tsoka and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Towards Democratic Consolidation in Malawi written by Masauko Chamkakala and published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eighteen years into a multi party democracy, the electoral process remains one of the most contentious issues in Malawi. The Malawi Electoral Commission, just like many electoral management bodies in emerging democracies, has routinely struggled to manage a credible electoral process. With a myriad of problems ranging from inadequate resources, inadequate trained personnel, to the never ending political engineering of the electoral process; a wish for a credible electoral process seems like a far cry. It is also clear that the legal framework on which the electoral management mechanism is based has serious flaws which allow for easy manipulation of the process. The need for an overhaul of the entire electoral is more imminent than it has ever been before.
Download or read book Towards the Consolidation of Malawi s Democracy written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Government and Politics in Malawi written by Nandini Patel and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is one of the outputs of a three-year study of the institutional context of the 2004 elections in Malawi. Comprehensive coverage is given of the main concepts, institutions and mechanisms of government and politics in Malawi. The study combines a historical perspective with current developments, covering: Conceputal and Contextual Background; The Constitution; the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary; Local Government; Elections; Political Parties; The Media; Civil Society; Trade Unions; Public Sector Reform; Public Policymaking; Foreign Policy and International Relations. The sixteen contributors are linked to political science institutions in Malawi and Norway. Dr. Nandini Patel is a political scientist, formerly a Senior Lecturer at Chancellor College, University of Malawi. Lars Svasand is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen.
Download or read book Transitions and Consolidation of Democracy in Africa written by Samuel Ebow Quainoo and published by Global Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What conditions motivate a transition to democracy? Can the dynamics of a transition influence its outcome? Under what circumstances has democracy been consolidated in Africa? This trilogy of questions has become necessary in light of the current democratic wave engulfing Africa and the rest of the world. In examining the conditions that initiate democratic transitions, this book investigates the circumstances under which democracy movements have operated between 1980 and 1990. It concludes that, contrary to dominant democratic theory, the transitions to democracy in Africa have occurred under declining levels of development. With regard to transitions, the book recognizes that they have their own dynamics. Two main types of transitions are discerned: top-down and bottom-up. The book argues that in spite of the restrictive nature of top-down transitions, they offer a better opportunity for democratic consolidation because of the consensus between elites of the pro-democracy regime and their counterparts in the authoritarian regime, a condition that is normally absent under bottom-up transitions. Finally, relying on the cases of consolidated democracies, the book derives an African democracy model. The model delineates five main conditions that facilitate democratic consolidation, including good leadership, relevant political institutions, external support, civic space, and a reasonable level of development. It cautions, however, that these are not sufficient conditions, nor are all of them necessary. Since countries have unique historical circumstances, specific countries will have to combine conditions in the model that are relevant to that society to consolidate its democracy. The right combination will depend on the specific needs of the individual country.
Download or read book Electoral Politics in Africa since 1990 written by Jaimie Bleck and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-29 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democratic transitions in the early 1990s introduced a sea change in Sub-Saharan African politics. Between 1990 and 2015, several hundred competitive legislative and presidential elections were held in all but a handful of the region's countries. This book is the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the key issues, actors, and trends in these elections over the last quarter century. The book asks: what motivates African citizens to vote? What issues do candidates campaign on? How has the turn to regular elections promoted greater democracy? Has regular electoral competition made a difference for the welfare of citizens? The authors argue that regular elections have both caused significant changes in African politics and been influenced in turn by a rapidly changing continent - even if few of the political systems that now convene elections can be considered democratic, and even if many old features of African politics persist.
Download or read book Democratic Transition in Madagascar Malawi and Mozambique written by Hans M. Rakotomanga and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1990s marked an optimistic era in Africa's political history. After nearly three decades of authoritarian rule, often characterized by "political repression, corruption, human rights abuses, and economic mismanagement," leaders of various African nations finally participated in multi-party elections. Since then, these countries have faced a daunting challenge; transitioning from a simple electoral to a consolidated democracy. This thesis examines three specific sub-Saharan countries: Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique. All three nations have experienced a democratic transition and nearly two decades of open elections consisting of different competing parties. So how have they fared? Should we now consider them consolidated democracies? When examining three pivotal facets used in assessing the quality of democracy: elections, political parties and civil society; it is apparent that there still are pitfalls existent in their paths towards consolidation. Though all three countries have completed great strides in political liberalization, the gap between electoral democracy and consolidated democracy has not been bridged.
Download or read book Losing Faith written by Robert P. Uttaro and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Since the end of the Cold War, countries in sub-Saharan Africa have been simultaneously undergoing economic and political liberalization. Under the auspices of the international financial institutions of the World Bank and the IMF, the success of structural adjustment policies and democratic consolidation is assumed to be inherently bound up in the complementarity of the two processes. However, skeptics argue that the simulataneous processes of democratization and economic liberalization are particularly incompatible in sub- Saharan African countries due to the severity of the conditions they face. Indeed, for those countries that have followed the IFIs dictates, the record is dismal on both counts. It is argued in this dissertation that the World Bank, the IMF and the donor community, unbending in their belief in neoliberal economics, pushed policies on Malawi that were inappropriate for the unique circumstances Malawi faced. Consequently, not only did these policies negatively affect the lives of the vast majority of Malawians but they also impeded democratic consolidation. A key mistake was that the priorities of the IFIs as expressed in their structural djustment policies were widely different from what the people expected from their new democratic government. Failing to comprehend the difference, the IFIs placed Malawi's new democracy under great stress by removing specific policy instruments from political discussion and contest.
Download or read book The Third Wave written by Samuel P. Huntington and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2012-09-06 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1974 and 1990 more than thirty countries in southern Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe shifted from authoritarian to democratic systems of government. This global democratic revolution is probably the most important political trend in the late twentieth century. In The Third Wave, Samuel P. Huntington analyzes the causes and nature of these democratic transitions, evaluates the prospects for stability of the new democracies, and explores the possibility of more countries becoming democratic. The recent transitions, he argues, are the third major wave of democratization in the modem world. Each of the two previous waves was followed by a reverse wave in which some countries shifted back to authoritarian government. Using concrete examples, empirical evidence, and insightful analysis, Huntington provides neither a theory nor a history of the third wave, but an explanation of why and how it occurred. Factors responsible for the democratic trend include the legitimacy dilemmas of authoritarian regimes; economic and social development; the changed role of the Catholic Church; the impact of the United States, the European Community, and the Soviet Union; and the "snowballing" phenomenon: change in one country stimulating change in others. Five key elite groups within and outside the nondemocratic regime played roles in shaping the various ways democratization occurred. Compromise was key to all democratizations, and elections and nonviolent tactics also were central. New democracies must deal with the "torturer problem" and the "praetorian problem" and attempt to develop democratic values and processes. Disillusionment with democracy, Huntington argues, is necessary to consolidating democracy. He concludes the book with an analysis of the political, economic, and cultural factors that will decide whether or not the third wave continues. Several "Guidelines for Democratizers" offer specific, practical suggestions for initiating and carrying out reform. Huntington's emphasis on practical application makes this book a valuable tool for anyone engaged in the democratization process. At this volatile time in history, Huntington's assessment of the processes of democratization is indispensable to understanding the future of democracy in the world.
Download or read book Democratization in Africa written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-02-01 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global movement toward democracy, spurred in part by the ending of the cold war, has created opportunities for democratization not only in Europe and the former Soviet Union, but also in Africa. This book is based on workshops held in Benin, Ethiopia, and Namibia to better understand the dynamics of contemporary democratic movements in Africa. Key issues in the democratization process range from its institutional and political requirements to specific problems such as ethnic conflict, corruption, and role of donors in promoting democracy. By focusing on the opinion and views of African intellectuals, academics, writers, and political activists and observers, the book provides a unique perspective regarding the dynamics and problems of democratization in Africa.
Download or read book Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe written by John Higley and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A distinguished group of scholars examine recent transitions to democracy and the prospects for democratic stability in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay. They also assess the role of elites in the longer-established democratic regimes in Columbia, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela. The authors conclude that in independent states with long records of political instability and authoritarian rule, democratic consolidation requires the achievement of elite 'consensual unity' - that is, agreement among all politically important elites on the worth of existing democratic institutions and respect for democratic rules-of-the-game, coupled with increased 'structural integration' among those elites. Two processes by which consensual unity can be established are explored - elite settlement, the negotiating of compromises on basic disagreements, and elite convergence, a more subtle series of tactical decisions by rival elites which have cumulative effect, over perhaps a generation.
Download or read book Competitive Authoritarianism written by Steven Levitsky and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-16 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.
Download or read book Democracy in Africa written by Nic Cheeseman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the history of democracy in Africa and explains why the continent's democratic experiments have so often failed, as well as how they could succeed. Nic Cheeseman grapples with some of the most important questions facing Africa and democracy today, including whether international actors should try and promote democracy abroad, how to design political systems that manage ethnic diversity, and why democratic governments often make bad policy decisions. Beginning in the colonial period with the introduction of multi-party elections and ending in 2013 with the collapse of democracy in Mali and South Sudan, the book describes the rise of authoritarian states in the 1970s; the attempts of trade unions and some religious groups to check the abuse of power in the 1980s; the remarkable return of multiparty politics in the 1990s; and finally, the tragic tendency for elections to exacerbate corruption and violence.
Download or read book Democracy written by Inter-parliamentary Union and published by Inter-Parliamentary Union. This book was released on 1998 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principles to realization - Cherif Bassiouni
Download or read book A Democracy of Chameleons written by Harri Englund and published by Nordic Africa Institute. This book was released on 2002 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After thirty years of autocratic rule under "Life President" Kamuzu Banda, Malawians experienced a transition to multi-party democracy in 1994. A new constitution and several democratic institutions promised a new dawn in a country ravaged by poverty and injustice. This book presents original research on the economic, social, political and cultural consequences of the new era. A new generation of scholars, most of them from Malawi, cover virtually every issue causing debate in the New Malawi: poverty and hunger, the plight of civil servants, the role of the judiciary, political intolerance and hate speech, popular music as a form of protest, clergy activism, voluntary associations and ethnic revival, responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and controversies over women's rights. Both chameleon-like leaders and the donors of Malawi's foreign aid come under critical scrutiny for supporting superficial democratization. The book ends with a rare public statement on the New Malawi by Jack Mapanje, Malawi'sinternationally acclaimed writer.
