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OverviewWhy have seemingly similar African countries developed very different forms of democratic party systems? Despite virtually ubiquitous conditions that are assumed to be challenging to democracy - low levels of economic development, high ethnic heterogeneity, and weak state capacity - nearly two dozen African countries have maintained democratic competition since the early 1990s. Yet the forms of party system competition vary greatly: from highly stable, nationally organized, well-institutionalized party systems to incredibly volatile, particularistic parties in systems with low institutionalization. To explain their divergent development, Rachel Beatty Riedl points to earlier authoritarian strategies to consolidate support and maintain power. The initial stages of democratic opening provide an opportunity for authoritarian incumbents to attempt to shape the rules of the new multiparty system in their own interests, but their power to do so depends on the extent of local support built up over time. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Rachel Beatty Riedl (Northwestern University, Illinois)Publisher: Cambridge University Press Imprint: Cambridge University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.80cm Weight: 0.450kg ISBN: 9781107623019ISBN 10: 1107623014 Pages: 286 Publication Date: 28 April 2016 Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Professional & Vocational , Tertiary & Higher Education Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand  We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Table of Contents1. A theory of party system variation; 2. Variations in party system institutionalization in Africa; 3. Competing explanations: from colonial rule to new democratic institutions; 4. Modes of authoritarian power; 5. Authoritarian power and transition control; 6. The emergence and endurance of the multiparty system; 7. Africa and beyond: party systems in new democracies.Reviews'This well-designed comparative study helps to explain the structure of political party competition in Africa's new democracies. The author shows how and why authoritarian precedents continue to shape institutional outcomes. Future analysts of party systems and democratic stability will have no choice but to take Riedl's important and challenging findings into account.' Michael Bratton, University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies, Michigan State University 'The most thorough, wide-ranging and important study of African political parties to date. If students of democratization and African politics want to know about African parties and party systems - and Reidl convincingly argues that they should - this is the place to start.' Nic Cheeseman, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford 'In this model work of comparative-historical analysis, Rachel Beatty Riedl unravels an important puzzle in contemporary African politics: why party competition is more stable in some African democracies than others. In so doing, she advances an argument with truly global resonance: how democracies work in the present depends on how dictatorships tried to accumulate power and rewire authority in the authoritarian past. Authoritarian Origins of Democratic Party Systems in Africa is a major achievement.' Dan Slater, University of Chicago 'In this first-rate former dissertation, Riedl asserts that the nature of authoritarian regimes significantly influences the strength of ensuing democratic governments ... An excellent bibliography and useful tables and figures add to Riedl's book's utility. Summing up: highly recommended.' C. E. Welch, Choice 'This well-designed comparative study helps to explain the structure of political party competition in Africa's new democracies. The author shows how and why authoritarian precedents continue to shape institutional outcomes. Future analysts of party systems and democratic stability will have no choice but to take Riedl's important and challenging findings into account.' Michael Bratton, University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies, Michigan State University 'The most thorough, wide-ranging and important study of African political parties to date. If students of democratization and African politics want to know about African parties and party systems - and Reidl convincingly argues that they should - this is the place to start.' Nic Cheeseman, African Studies Centre, Oxford University 'In this model work of comparative-historical analysis, Rachel Beatty Riedl unravels an important puzzle in contemporary African politics: why party competition is more stable in some African democracies than others. In so doing, she advances an argument with truly global resonance: how democracies work in the present depends on how dictatorships tried to accumulate power and rewire authority in the authoritarian past. Authoritarian Origins of Democratic Party Systems in Africa is a major achievement.' Dan Slater, University of Chicago 'In this first-rate former dissertation, Riedl asserts that the nature of authoritarian regimes significantly influences the strength of ensuing democratic governments ... An excellent bibliography and useful tables and figures add to Riedl's book's utility. Summing up: highly recommended.' C. E. Welch, Choice Author InformationRachel Beatty Riedl is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, Illinois. Riedl is an Executive Committee member of the Program of African Studies; is affiliated with the Program in Comparative-Historical Social Science; serves as a Faculty Associate in Equality, Development, and Globalization Studies at the Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies; and is a Faculty Associate at the Institute for Policy Research. She has also served as a visiting postdoctoral fellow in the Program on Democracy at the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University, Connecticut. Her work has been published in such journals as Comparative Political Studies and the African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review. She has consulted for USAID, the State Department, and the World Bank on governance reforms throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Riedl has been the recipient of fellowships and grants from the MacArthur Foundation, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. Her dissertation was awarded an honorable mention for the Juan Linz prize for best dissertation in comparative democratization from the APSA in 2009. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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