|
|
AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
Linkage Strategies of Political Parties in Africa: Ghana and Senegal in comparison
| Panel |
83. Political Parties in Africa
|
| Paper ID | 736 |
| Author(s) |
Osei, Anja
|
| Paper |
No paper submitted
|
| Abstract | Political parties are intermediary organizations between state and society. They serve as 'agencies for forging links between citizens and policymakers'*. In the African context, political parties are often described as organizationally and programmatically weak. They have only rare contacts with civil society groups and do not appear as expressions of social interests, but rather as vehicles for the ambitions of individual politicians. But despite their 'weakness' they mobilize substantial numbers of voters at elections, and the Afrobarometer survey also showed comparatively high rates of party affiliation.
Using the concept of 'linkage' which was developed by Kay Lawson and others, it will be tried to contribute to an understanding of party voter-linkage in Ghana and Senegal. How do political parties appeal to the electorate, how do they mobilize voters and sympathizers and which role do ethnicity and clientelism play in the relationship between parties and voters? Evidence from the field shows that political parties in the two countries have developed distinctive strategies to mobilize support. Generally speaking, they can link up with the electorate by appealing directly to them (through personal contacts at the local level or over the media) or they can establish relationships with intermediaries (collateral organisations, chiefs or, in Senegal, religious leaders).
The comparative approach also helps to explore how institutional, historical and socioeconomic conditions shape the behaviour of political parties in Africa.
*Lawson, Kay 1980. Political Parties and Linkage: A Comparative Perspective. New Haven: Yale University Press, p.3. |
|