Ethnic Mobilization, Horizontal Inequalities, and Electoral Conflict

Kapesa, Robby; Sichone, Owen; Bwalya, John

doi:10.1163/9789004430440_011

Cited by 19 publications

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Political party ideology in Zambia: comparing the PF and the UPND on social welfare policies

Hallink

Siachiwena

2023

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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This paper challenges existing analyses of party cleavages in Sub-Saharan Africa which over-emphasise the centrality of ethnicity. Parties express ideological positions that reflect the socio-economic interests of specific regions, which, especially in Zambia, coincide with particular ethnic groups. We demonstrate this through an examination of party manifestos, policy documents and semi-structured interviews with members of two political parties in Zambia – the Patriotic Front and the United Party for National Development. These parties express clear normative ideas about social welfare, especially the role of the state in providing social assistance to the poorest. These ideological positions reflect the socio-economic interests of the ethnic groups and regions where support for each party is dominant. These are shaped by the ways in which these regions were historically incorporated into the colonial economy. In order to gain a better understanding of African politics, ethnicity must be conceptualised as a socio-cultural construct and situated historically.

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Political party ideology in Zambia: comparing the PF and the UPND on social welfare policies

Hallink

Siachiwena

2023

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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‘Tribal balancing’: exclusionary elite coalitions and Zambia’s 2021 elections

Beardsworth,

Mutuna

2022

Journal of Eastern African Studies

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Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters

Wahman

2023

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Violence in election campaigns is common across the African continent and beyond. According to some estimations, most African elections contain some degree of violence and most of this violence happens before elections, during the campaign. Campaign violence distorts political competition by creating an uneven playing field tilted towards actors with repressive capacity. It also enhances political inequalities and deprives voters of a meaningful opportunity to participate in the electoral process. While campaign violence is a common problem, it affects citizens differently across localities. Some localities tend to experience little violence during election campaigns, while others have been deeply affected by violence during elections. When violence and intimidation become an integral part of election campaigns in a locality, it becomes a tool of subnational authoritarianism that may effectively dismantle local democracy. This book focuses on the political geography of election violence in Africa, building on one crucial observation: elections in many African countries are highly structured around regional cleavages, and the support for political parties is rarely nationalized. The book argues that in such environments, campaign violence becomes an important tool to control and regulate access to space. The book builds on a wealth of data and extensive fieldwork in Zambia and Malawi. Using a combination of electoral geography analysis, constituency-level election violence data collected from local election monitors, focus group interviews, archival material, and individual-level survey data, the book shows how campaign violence in both countries is used as a territorial tool, predominantly within party strongholds.

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Ethnic Mobilization, Horizontal Inequalities, and Electoral Conflict

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Political party ideology in Zambia: comparing the PF and the UPND on social welfare policies

Political party ideology in Zambia: comparing the PF and the UPND on social welfare policies

‘Tribal balancing’: exclusionary elite coalitions and Zambia’s 2021 elections

Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters

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