What Affects the Strength of Partisan Identity in Sub‐Saharan Africa?

Abstract

A longstanding focus of political science scholarship has been on voter studies and, in particular, on the motivations for partisanship. This article examines the intensity of partisan attachments among respondents in twelve sub‐Saharan African states (Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) using data from the Afrobarometer study. Employing a framework derived from both the literature in the West and from newly developing democracies, we test the various explanations put forward for the strength or intensity of partisan attachment in the African context. We find that being a rural voter and support for the governing party are the best predictors for the intensity of partisan attachment among African voters in these twelve sub‐Saharan states. These results suggest the continued importance of patronage as a source for party loyalty.

Determinants of voter turnout in Nsukka Council of Enugu State, South Eastern Nigeria

“…However, it found evidence for the influence of partisanship, but it has a negative relationship with turnout, suggesting that although the people in the study area do have some support for a specific political party, it does not translate to voting on Election Day. This finding is incredible given the growing support for partisanship as a core predictor of political participation in Africa (Ishiyama and Fox, 2006;Lambright, 2007, 2011). Contextually, the rebirth of the Biafra independence movement can be a very potent factor here, as the pro-Biafra independence movement in South Eastern (South-South GPZ and South-East GPZ) Nigeria has consistently called for an election boycott in the region since 2015.…”

“…While the works of and Chiamogu and Chiamogu (2018) provide some primary analysis of voter abstention and turnout respectively in the South-East GPZ of Nigeria, this present study examines -among other determinants of voting -the effect of factors (partisanship, life satisfaction, membership to non-political organisation) that have not been considered by previous studies in the South-East GPZ of Nigeria. Partisanship or support for a political party has been a core predictor of voter turnout established in the literature on voter studies, and most studies in Africa have confirmed its influence on voting (Ishiyama and Fox, 2006;Kuenzi and Lambright, 2007;2011). The impact of life satisfaction on voter turnout has not been investigated in Nigeria, and although membership to a non-political organisation has been examined by at the national level, the local level manifestation of the factor needs more attention.…”

What Drives the Swing Voter in Africa?

“…Parties in Africa are no different. However, even in societies where ethnicity is a key political cleavage, evidence that ethnic identifiers are consistent voters for any one particular party is mixed (Ishyama and Fox ; cf. Norris and Mattes ).…”

Electoral Cycle Fluctuations in Partisanship: Global Evidence from Eighty-Six Countries

“…We find that a dynamic factor-the position in the electoral cycle-can influence whether and to what degree individuals feel attached to political parties. By contrast, existing scholarship has considered "static" individual, institutional, and cultural determinants of partisanship (e.g., Brader and Tucker 2008;Huber, Kernell, and Leoni 2005;Ishiyama and Fox 2006) or the long-term stability in aggregate partisanship in response to long-term political, economic, and social environmental change (Clarke and Stewart 1998;Dalton and Wattenberg 2000). 3 Additionally, while previous research has tended to focus on country-specific or region-specific examinations of partisanship, 4 with the vast majority of studies concentrating on high-income countries, 5 this study offers theory and evidence that is so general as to be applicable to all regimes with multiparty elections.…”