Political parties are central to modern-day representative democracy. Given the extent to which they provide policy choices to voters, it is acknowledged that representative democracy is inconceivable without political parties. They largely form and shape political processes in any multi-party democracy. Among other things, they are meant to be the main vehicles for political representation, social mobilisation and the main mechanism for the organisation of government and the channels for democratic accountability. Whereas all countries of Southern Africa, except Eswatini, are governed by political parties, they (political parties) are some of the least trusted and least understood institutions. Political parties have been subjected to very little research and introspection, at least in the southern African context. Baseline information and data on the nature and state of political parties and party systems in many countries are either hardly available or not up to date. This lack of knowledge is worsened by the fact that within the region, political parties tend to be very fluid, changing not only their names, but sometimes their ideological stance. Very little is known about the major challenges facing political parties, and how these could be addressed to improve democratic performance. That which we know tends to be limited to the formal aspects of political parties. Given the influential role that political parties – both governing and opposition – have on various countries’ policies, it is important for citizens, civic organisation, development partners and political parties themselves, to have a better understanding of these institutions. Understanding the genetics of political parties could very well
Political Parties in Southern Africa: State of Affairs – a comparative study
