Sishuwa
Biographic Data
| ID | 7481 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sishuwa |
| FAMILY NAME | Sishuwa |
| SIGNATURE | SISHUWA |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7213-4337 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 59 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Elite and popular basis for legitimacy of democracy in Zambia since 1991
Democracy and legitimacy in Africa
While the fading of democratic legitimacy is widely discussed in the academic literature, the genre is concerned primarily with the backsliding of liberal democracy in Western countries. The articles making up this special issue add to this conversation by exploring the topic in the African context. This introduction offers the reader a panoramic view of the collection as a whole. It first presents the nine countries of interest, explaining the r…
The Colonial African: Godwin Mbikusita-Lewanika and His Struggle For and Against Zambian Nationalism
Godwin Mbikusita-Lewanika, the founding president of Zambia’s first nationalist organisation, is now remembered as a staunch supporter of colonial rule. Such figures are not uncommon and are often termed “loyalists,” a term that is usually understood in the literature as a fixed category that either dwindled in the face of racial oppression or was a choice shaped and hardened by conflict. Lewanika, however, moved easily between different sides, r…
Floor Crossing and the Motivations of Members of Parliament in Zambia, 1991-2016
Multi-ethnic vision or ethnic nationalism? The contested legacies of Anderson Mazoka and Zambia’s 2006 election
Studies on elections in Africa’s multiparty democracies stress the role of “incumbency advantages” in the re-election of presidents. While this blanket explanation holds true for the most part, it does not cover the successes of incumbents in polls conducted with minimal levels of clientelism and manipulation. Using the example of Zambia’s 2006 election, this paper shows how incumbents in multi-ethnic societies attempt to build a winning coalitio…
Defamation of the president, racial nationalism, and the Roy Clarke affair in Zambia
In January 2004, residents of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, were treated to a disturbing sight. Over 200 members of the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy party marched through the streets of the capital carrying a mock coffin bearing the name of Roy Clarke, a prominent newspaper satirist and white British national who had been a permanent resident in the country since the early 1960s. The protesters accused Clarke of insulting and defaming …
The outcome of a historical process set in motion in 1991: Explaining the failure of incumbency advantage in Zambia's 2021 election
This article uses a longitudinal comparative perspective to analyse Zambia's 2021 transfer of power. The article takes the previous elections since the transition to multi-party democracy in 1991 as a body in which patterns of incumbency failure can be seen. It identifies five pervasive patterns that seem present in all polls that have resulted in leadership change or turnovers: a struggling economy with a clear blame orientation, a unified oppos…
Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections
Zambia experienced an episode of distinct democratic backsliding between 2011 and 2021. Autocratisation resulted from the deliberate use of legal mechanisms to enhance executive power. Tracing key legal changes through legal documents, press reports and informant interviews, the article examines this recent episode of autocratisation as a consequence of a poorly institutionalised party system in a fledgling and unconsolidated presidential democra…
Autocratisation, electoral politics and the limits of incumbency in African democracies
The world is experiencing a new wave of autocratisation, characterised by a global democratic reversal. From 2010 to 2020, the share of the world population living in autocracies increased from 48 to 68%. Electoral autocracies are now the world's most common regime type, and along with closed autocracies they number 87 of the world's 195 states. Even during the height of the third wave of democratisation, elections in Africa rarely led to an alte…
Roots of Contemporary Political Strategies: Ethno-Populism in Zambia during the Late Colonial Era and Early 2000s
Much of the scholarly work on politics in Zambia during the early 2000s stresses the role of populist mobilisations and the exploitation of ethnic language identities when explaining one of the main political developments of this period – the growing popularity of Michael Sata and his opposition party, the Patriotic Front. A common limitation of these studies is their narrow focus on the immediate context as the source of political populism and e…
African Studies Keyword: Democracy
Democracy is one of the most contested words in the English language. In Africa, these complexities are compounded by the question of whether democracy is a colonial imposition. Cheeseman and Sishuwa provide a historiography of debates around democracy, track how these narratives have developed over time, and argue that there is widespread public support for a form of what they call "consensual democracy." This is not to say that democracy is uni…
Surviving on Borrowed Power: Rethinking the Role of Civil Society in Zambia's Third-Term Debate
Countries in Africa that feature a strong civil society are often assumed to have the best prospects for democratic consolidation. Zambia is often held up as an example of the democratic gains that can result from a robust non-state sector capable of checking the power of the government. Indeed, the literature is characterised by a remarkable consensus on the capacity of trade unions and religious organisations to force presidents to compromise, …
Patronage politics and parliamentary elections in Zambia's one-party state c. 1983-88
Much of the scholarly work on politics in Zambia’s one-party state stresses the non-competitiveness of its parliamentary elections and holds that politicians were unable to cultivate the power of patronage because the political system was heavily weighted against the practice. This article uses a case study of Michael Sata, an individual politician who was twice elected Member of Parliament in Zambia’s capital city in the 1980s, to offer a two-fo…
A White Man Will Never Be a Zambian: Racialised Nationalism, the Rule of Law, and Competing Visions of Independent Zambia in the Case of Justice James Skinner, 1964-1969
Much of the existing historical work on politics in independent Zambia stresses the country’s comparative lack of racial tension. However, this article argues that, as elsewhere in Africa, racial ideas were deployed in the early years after the achievement of independence in 1964 and found expression in the competing forms of nationalism that manifested themselves within the governing United National Independence Party. The article considers the …
Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections
Zambia experienced an episode of distinct democratic backsliding between 2011 and 2021. Autocratisation resulted from the deliberate use of legal mechanisms to enhance executive power. Tracing key legal changes through legal documents, press reports and informant interviews, the article examines this recent episode of autocratisation as a consequence of a poorly institutionalised party system in a fledgling and unconsolidated presidential democra…
Roots of Contemporary Political Strategies: Ethno-Populism in Zambia during the Late Colonial Era and Early 2000s
Much of the scholarly work on politics in Zambia during the early 2000s stresses the role of populist mobilisations and the exploitation of ethnic language identities when explaining one of the main political developments of this period – the growing popularity of Michael Sata and his opposition party, the Patriotic Front. A common limitation of these studies is their narrow focus on the immediate context as the source of political populism and e…
Surviving on Borrowed Power: Rethinking the Role of Civil Society in Zambia's Third-Term Debate
Countries in Africa that feature a strong civil society are often assumed to have the best prospects for democratic consolidation. Zambia is often held up as an example of the democratic gains that can result from a robust non-state sector capable of checking the power of the government. Indeed, the literature is characterised by a remarkable consensus on the capacity of trade unions and religious organisations to force presidents to compromise, …
Autocratisation, electoral politics and the limits of incumbency in African democracies
The world is experiencing a new wave of autocratisation, characterised by a global democratic reversal. From 2010 to 2020, the share of the world population living in autocracies increased from 48 to 68%. Electoral autocracies are now the world's most common regime type, and along with closed autocracies they number 87 of the world's 195 states. Even during the height of the third wave of democratisation, elections in Africa rarely led to an alte…
African Studies Keyword: Democracy
Democracy is one of the most contested words in the English language. In Africa, these complexities are compounded by the question of whether democracy is a colonial imposition. Cheeseman and Sishuwa provide a historiography of debates around democracy, track how these narratives have developed over time, and argue that there is widespread public support for a form of what they call "consensual democracy." This is not to say that democracy is uni…
Defamation of the president, racial nationalism, and the Roy Clarke affair in Zambia
In January 2004, residents of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, were treated to a disturbing sight. Over 200 members of the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy party marched through the streets of the capital carrying a mock coffin bearing the name of Roy Clarke, a prominent newspaper satirist and white British national who had been a permanent resident in the country since the early 1960s. The protesters accused Clarke of insulting and defaming …
Patronage politics and parliamentary elections in Zambia's one-party state c. 1983-88
Much of the scholarly work on politics in Zambia’s one-party state stresses the non-competitiveness of its parliamentary elections and holds that politicians were unable to cultivate the power of patronage because the political system was heavily weighted against the practice. This article uses a case study of Michael Sata, an individual politician who was twice elected Member of Parliament in Zambia’s capital city in the 1980s, to offer a two-fo…
The outcome of a historical process set in motion in 1991: Explaining the failure of incumbency advantage in Zambia's 2021 election
This article uses a longitudinal comparative perspective to analyse Zambia's 2021 transfer of power. The article takes the previous elections since the transition to multi-party democracy in 1991 as a body in which patterns of incumbency failure can be seen. It identifies five pervasive patterns that seem present in all polls that have resulted in leadership change or turnovers: a struggling economy with a clear blame orientation, a unified oppos…
A White Man Will Never Be a Zambian: Racialised Nationalism, the Rule of Law, and Competing Visions of Independent Zambia in the Case of Justice James Skinner, 1964-1969
Much of the existing historical work on politics in independent Zambia stresses the country’s comparative lack of racial tension. However, this article argues that, as elsewhere in Africa, racial ideas were deployed in the early years after the achievement of independence in 1964 and found expression in the competing forms of nationalism that manifested themselves within the governing United National Independence Party. The article considers the …
The Colonial African: Godwin Mbikusita-Lewanika and His Struggle For and Against Zambian Nationalism
Godwin Mbikusita-Lewanika, the founding president of Zambia’s first nationalist organisation, is now remembered as a staunch supporter of colonial rule. Such figures are not uncommon and are often termed “loyalists,” a term that is usually understood in the literature as a fixed category that either dwindled in the face of racial oppression or was a choice shaped and hardened by conflict. Lewanika, however, moved easily between different sides, r…
Floor Crossing and the Motivations of Members of Parliament in Zambia, 1991-2016
A White Man Will Never Be a Zambian: Racialised Nationalism, the Rule of Law, and Competing Visions of Independent Zambia in the Case of Justice James Skinner, 1964-1969
Much of the existing historical work on politics in independent Zambia stresses the country’s comparative lack of racial tension. However, this article argues that, as elsewhere in Africa, racial ideas were deployed in the early years after the achievement of independence in 1964 and found expression in the competing forms of nationalism that manifested themselves within the governing United National Independence Party. The article considers the …
Surviving on Borrowed Power: Rethinking the Role of Civil Society in Zambia's Third-Term Debate
Countries in Africa that feature a strong civil society are often assumed to have the best prospects for democratic consolidation. Zambia is often held up as an example of the democratic gains that can result from a robust non-state sector capable of checking the power of the government. Indeed, the literature is characterised by a remarkable consensus on the capacity of trade unions and religious organisations to force presidents to compromise, …
Patronage politics and parliamentary elections in Zambia's one-party state c. 1983-88
Much of the scholarly work on politics in Zambia’s one-party state stresses the non-competitiveness of its parliamentary elections and holds that politicians were unable to cultivate the power of patronage because the political system was heavily weighted against the practice. This article uses a case study of Michael Sata, an individual politician who was twice elected Member of Parliament in Zambia’s capital city in the 1980s, to offer a two-fo…
Roots of Contemporary Political Strategies: Ethno-Populism in Zambia during the Late Colonial Era and Early 2000s
Much of the scholarly work on politics in Zambia during the early 2000s stresses the role of populist mobilisations and the exploitation of ethnic language identities when explaining one of the main political developments of this period – the growing popularity of Michael Sata and his opposition party, the Patriotic Front. A common limitation of these studies is their narrow focus on the immediate context as the source of political populism and e…
African Studies Keyword: Democracy
Democracy is one of the most contested words in the English language. In Africa, these complexities are compounded by the question of whether democracy is a colonial imposition. Cheeseman and Sishuwa provide a historiography of debates around democracy, track how these narratives have developed over time, and argue that there is widespread public support for a form of what they call "consensual democracy." This is not to say that democracy is uni…
The outcome of a historical process set in motion in 1991: Explaining the failure of incumbency advantage in Zambia's 2021 election
This article uses a longitudinal comparative perspective to analyse Zambia's 2021 transfer of power. The article takes the previous elections since the transition to multi-party democracy in 1991 as a body in which patterns of incumbency failure can be seen. It identifies five pervasive patterns that seem present in all polls that have resulted in leadership change or turnovers: a struggling economy with a clear blame orientation, a unified oppos…
Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections
Zambia experienced an episode of distinct democratic backsliding between 2011 and 2021. Autocratisation resulted from the deliberate use of legal mechanisms to enhance executive power. Tracing key legal changes through legal documents, press reports and informant interviews, the article examines this recent episode of autocratisation as a consequence of a poorly institutionalised party system in a fledgling and unconsolidated presidential democra…
Autocratisation, electoral politics and the limits of incumbency in African democracies
The world is experiencing a new wave of autocratisation, characterised by a global democratic reversal. From 2010 to 2020, the share of the world population living in autocracies increased from 48 to 68%. Electoral autocracies are now the world's most common regime type, and along with closed autocracies they number 87 of the world's 195 states. Even during the height of the third wave of democratisation, elections in Africa rarely led to an alte…
Multi-ethnic vision or ethnic nationalism? The contested legacies of Anderson Mazoka and Zambia’s 2006 election
Studies on elections in Africa’s multiparty democracies stress the role of “incumbency advantages” in the re-election of presidents. While this blanket explanation holds true for the most part, it does not cover the successes of incumbents in polls conducted with minimal levels of clientelism and manipulation. Using the example of Zambia’s 2006 election, this paper shows how incumbents in multi-ethnic societies attempt to build a winning coalitio…
Defamation of the president, racial nationalism, and the Roy Clarke affair in Zambia
In January 2004, residents of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, were treated to a disturbing sight. Over 200 members of the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy party marched through the streets of the capital carrying a mock coffin bearing the name of Roy Clarke, a prominent newspaper satirist and white British national who had been a permanent resident in the country since the early 1960s. The protesters accused Clarke of insulting and defaming …
The Colonial African: Godwin Mbikusita-Lewanika and His Struggle For and Against Zambian Nationalism
Godwin Mbikusita-Lewanika, the founding president of Zambia’s first nationalist organisation, is now remembered as a staunch supporter of colonial rule. Such figures are not uncommon and are often termed “loyalists,” a term that is usually understood in the literature as a fixed category that either dwindled in the face of racial oppression or was a choice shaped and hardened by conflict. Lewanika, however, moved easily between different sides, r…
Floor Crossing and the Motivations of Members of Parliament in Zambia, 1991-2016
Elite and popular basis for legitimacy of democracy in Zambia since 1991
Democracy and legitimacy in Africa
While the fading of democratic legitimacy is widely discussed in the academic literature, the genre is concerned primarily with the backsliding of liberal democracy in Western countries. The articles making up this special issue add to this conversation by exploring the topic in the African context. This introduction offers the reader a panoramic view of the collection as a whole. It first presents the nine countries of interest, explaining the r…
Law (14 works) · Political science (14 works) · Politics (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Political economy (12 works) · Democracy (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (8 works) · African studies and sociopolitical issues (7 works) · African history and culture studies (6 works)