Overview
- Urges social scientists to analyze the local meanings of institutions, grassroots political context, and individual behavior in the analysis of party politics
- Combines ideas and methods from political science, anthropology, and history, and includes information from over one hundred elite interviews and original party-level data gathered in West Africa
- Examines the sources of party proliferation as well as the consequences for opposition and contestation, and deciphers what these patterns mean for democratization in Senegal
Part of the book series: Contemporary African Political Economy (CONTAPE)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
“An analytical treasure trove, this book takes our understanding of Senegal’s idiosyncratic democracy to a whole new level. In it, Kelly skillfully explains the intricacies and inner workings of Senegal’s ever-evolving democratic system, sharing her expert knowledge with us, the readers. A must-read for political scientists and Africanists alike, this book shows us why Senegal stands out as an especially useful and salient case study of political party formation and proliferation.” (Matthew T. Page, Associate Fellow, Africa Programme, Chatham House, UK)
“This important book tells us why and how party proliferation occurs, as politicians create new parties, rather than remaining loyal or collaborating with existing options. Kelly makes the case that this is costly for democracy and accountability. When parties function primarily as vehicles for negotiating patronage rather than long-term electoral mobilization, there are adverse consequences for oppositional strategies, candidate selection, and elite defection. A critical book for scholarship and policy on political parties, democracy, and governance in the region.” (Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director of Program on African Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University, USA)
“In this deeply researched and highly accessible book, Catherine Kelly takes up a vital question in the study of contemporary Africa – why are there so many political parties? In the course of her masterful examination of Senegal, a prominent African democracy, Kelly challenges conventional assumptions about how political parties work and what they want. By showing the patterns underlying Senegal's hundreds of parties and its long history of defectionsand realignments, she sheds crucial light on broader issues related to how democratic experiments unfold. This excellent study will have wide relevance for researchers, students, and policymakers working on Africa – as well as for anyone interested in understanding emerging democracies around the world.” (Alexander Thurston, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and Comparative Religion, Miami University of Ohio, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Party Proliferation and Political Contestation in Africa
Book Subtitle: Senegal in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Catherine Lena Kelly
Series Title: Contemporary African Political Economy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19617-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19616-5Published: 04 July 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19619-6Published: 14 August 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-19617-2Published: 22 June 2019
Series ISSN: 2945-7351
Series E-ISSN: 2945-736X
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXV, 243
Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: African Politics, Democracy, Electoral Politics, Regionalism, Development Policy