Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Elischer, Sebastian, 1979-

Title Political parties in Africa : ethnicity and party formation / Sebastian Elischer
Published New York : Cambridge University Press, 2013

Copies

Description 1 online resource (xx, 319 pages) : charts
Contents 1. Comparative politics and political parties in Africa -- 2. A new framework of comparison for political parties -- 3. Kenya : the ubiquity of ethnic parties -- 4. Namibia : the dominance of nonethnic parties -- 5. Ghana : the ubiquity of nonethnic parties -- 6. The diversity of African party politics -- 7. Explaining the formation of nonethnic parties -- Conclusion : political parties in Africa
Summary This book examines the effects of ethnicity on party politics in sub-Saharan Africa. Sebastian Elischer analyzes political parties in Ghana, Kenya and Namibia in detail, and provides a preliminary analysis of parties in seven other countries including Tanzania, Botswana, Senegal, Zambia, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Benin. Elischer finds that five party types exist: the mono-ethnic, the ethnic alliance, the catch-all, the programmatic, and the personalistic party. He uses these party types to show that the African political landscape is considerably more diverse than conventionally assumed. Whereas ethnic parties dominate in some countries, non-ethnic parties have become the norm in others. This study also finds a correlation between a country's ethnic make-up and the salience of political ethnicity: countries with a core ethnic group are prone to form non-ethnic parties. In countries lacking a core ethnic group, ethnic parties constitute the norm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Political parties -- Africa
Ethnic relations -- Political aspects.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- Elections.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Process -- General.
Ethnic relations -- Political aspects
Political parties
SUBJECT Africa -- Ethnic relations -- Political aspects
Subject Africa
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781107055988
1107055989
1107059542
9781107059542
9781139519755
1139519751
1107065631
9781107065635
1107058228
9781107058224