Battleground
Candidate selection and violence in Africa’s dominant political parties
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6253757 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shane Mac Giollabhuí (0000-0001-8751-5880, School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences, Ulster University, Belfast, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 978-995 |
| Publication date | 2018-08-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Democratization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13510347.2018.1451841 |
| OpenAlex | W2802968346 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 48 |
This article develops a theory – rooted in the experience of the African National Congress in South Africa – to explain how, and why, a dominant political party is less likely to conduct orderly elections to select its political leadership. First, I demonstrate that canny party leaders – operating in the space between a divided society and a weak state – make an ideological turn to a “congress-like” political party, which is clever (in the short term) because it provides party leaders with an in-built electoral majority. It is, however, also a dangerous manoeuvre because it essentially endogenizes social competition for state resources inside the dominant party. This displacement of social competition away from the public sphere towards the partisan organization increases the likelihood of disorderly competition for party candidacies. Second, I demonstrate how this competition need not necessarily become the basis of violent competition inside the dominant party. The party leadership can use intra-party elections to stabilize competition, but only if the party invests in an organization that applies impartially the rules that govern the election
Competition (biology · General election · Ideology · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Primary election · Realigning election · Socialism · Sociology · State (computer science · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Political Conflict and Governance
Intra-Party Democracy in Tanzania
Family Politics in the Recruitment Process of Legislative Candidates in the 2024 Elections
‘Votescapes’
Political preferences and candidate choice in party primaries in Ghana
The politics of mayoral reselection under centralized candidate nominations in South Africa
Intra-Party Democracy and Party Unity
The Party Paradox
Dominant party politics and ethnic coordination after conflict
How Does Primary Election Manipulation Affect the Selection of Women Candidates? Evidence from Malawi
Political party affiliation strength and protest participation propensity
Political Order in Changing Societies
Liberation Movements in Power
Rethinking Party Systems in the Third Wave of Democratization
Why Parties?
Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical Africa
Comparative Electoral Systems Research
Creating Political Order
Political Parties in Africa
From Protest to Parties
Political parties and party systems in Africa's illiberal democracies
Understanding the ‘Zuma Tsunami’
South Africa
Understanding African politics
Eight Days in September
The Congress 'System' in India
Nationalized incumbents and regional challengers
The dynamics of the one-party state in Zambia
Why Africa's Weak States Persist
How things fall apart
Species of Political Parties
Party System Institutionalization in 30 African Countries
Candidate Selection Methods
Party Institutionalization in New Democracies
The Puzzle of African Party Systems
Assessing African Party Systems after the Third Wave
Institutionalization of Party Systems? Stability and Fluidity among Legislative Parties in Africa's Democracies
Counting parties and identifying dominant party systems in Africa
Ethnicity and party preference in sub-Saharan Africa
Democratic Authoritarianism
What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years
Justice denied
Power, patronage, and gatekeeper politics in South Africa
Africa's unholy migrants
The fall of an African president
Elections Under Authoritarianism
Democracy at Risk? Politics and Governance under the ANC
The ANC and the development of party politics in modern South Africa
Are African party systems different
Consequences of electoral systems in Africa
Political Clientelism and Ethnicity in Tropical Africa
Electoral Institutions, Ethnopolitical Cleavages, and Party Systems in Africa's Emerging Democracies
How Democratic is the African National Congress
Citizen and Subject
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,25 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |