Multi-party democracy and the political party system in Africa : cases from East and Southern Africa

Abstract

Abstract: The trend since the late 1980s towards economic lib eralization and democratization process including the introduction of multi-party systems in most countries in Africa, has taken place with a scope unparalleled in the history of the continent. There have been different interpretations and conceptualizations within and outside Africa about these developments. There are those scholars who argue that there is enough evidence to suggest that this development will be more than a passing phenomenon (Tisch, 1992), whereas others have the pessimistic opinion that not too much should be expected from these sudden conversions since these developments were not a result of a process of internal evolution but an imposition by the logic and thrust of developments worldwide (Petersen, 1991).