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The Power of Proximity: Strategic Decisions in African Party Politics

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  • Stroh, Alexander

Abstract

Recent publications suggest that exclusively ethnoregional parties are as rare in sub-Saharan Africa as elsewhere. At the same time, the idea that ethnicity is a very special feature of African party politics persists. The paper acknowledges the general relevance of ethnicity in party competition but emphasizes the level on which it becomes important. It develops a microbehavioral approach which pays particular attention to the strategic choices of party elites in order to supplement the dominant structuralist thinking in party research on Africa. An in-depth evaluation of detailed election data from Burkina Faso shows that strategies which rely on personal proximity between the voter and the candidates influence the parties' success to a great extent. Parties maximize their chances of winning seats if they concentrate their limited resources on the home localities of leading party members. Hence, African party politics are less dependent on ethnic demography than is often implied but more open to change through elite behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Stroh, Alexander, 2009. "The Power of Proximity: Strategic Decisions in African Party Politics," GIGA Working Papers 96, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:96
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lemarchand, René, 1972. "Political Clientelism and Ethnicity in Tropical Africa:* Competing Solidarities in Nation-Building," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 68-90, March.
    2. Becher, Anika & Basedau, Matthias, 2008. "Promoting Peace and Democracy through Party Regulation? Ethnic Party Bans in Africa," GIGA Working Papers 66, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    3. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(2), pages 135-135.
    4. Elischer, Sebastian, 2008. "Ethnic Coalitions of Convenience and Commitment: Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya," GIGA Working Papers 68, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stroh, Alexander, 2009. "The Effects of Electoral Institutions in Rwanda: Why Proportional Representation Supports the Authoritarian Regime," GIGA Working Papers 105, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    2. Moroff, Anika, 2010. "Ethnic Party Bans in East Africa from a Comparative Perspective," GIGA Working Papers 129, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    3. Reeg, Caroline, 2017. "Spatial development initiatives – potentials, challenges and policy lessons: with a specific outlook for inclusive agrocorridors in Sub-Sahara Africa," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 97, number 97, July.

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