Português
This project assesses the impact of electoral integrity on pluralism and democratisation in Angola and Mozambique, comparing both cases through the analysis of specific electoral processes: the Angolan 2017 general election; Mozambique 2018 municipal election and 2019 Mozambique general election.
We test the assumption that the impact of electoral integrity on pluralism and democratization on those two countries depends on the balance of forces between two opposing forces:
1) attempts by the neo-patrimonial regimes in place and its governments to distort electoral integrity as a strategy to maintain its political hegemony;
2) actions taken by other society sectors and actors (e.g. individual citizens, civil society organisations, media, churches, political parties, unions and international partners) trying to get the government to abide by the law on electoral integrity to take the most out of the opportunity created by electoral processes for pluralism.
So far, in the Angolan case, the first logics has been progressively smashing the second and electoral processes in different contexts (1992, 2008, 2012) have been reaffirming the MPLA’s hegemony in the multiparty era, being in power since independence (November 1975). As for the Mozambican case, multiparty electoral processes also resulted in consecutive victories for the party in power since 1975, having won all elections, from presidential and legislative (1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014) to municipal (1998, 2003, 2008, 2013). However, the first logics has not been able to smash the second, whereby Frelimo victory expresses hegemony without domination (Cahen 2014).
Within our broader project on democratization and development processes in Southern Africa we now want to focus on a more technically and conceptually deeper comparison of electoral integrity and pluralism in two Southern African countries – Angola and Mozambique, through those mentioned forthcoming electoral processes. These countries are particularly fit for comparative studies. They do present several similarities in terms of political historical path, but they also show different outcomes in terms of pluralism and democratization.Angola has been usually presented as a case of innocuous electoral ritualistic disguising the distortion of electoral integrity, authoritarianism and lack of effective pluralism and democratization, while Mozambique had so far been presented as a case where the transition had been peaceful, electoral integrity has been contested but not abrogated and meaning, at least, some effective pluralism and democratization when compared to Angola. The similarities in terms of the political path of former Socialist single-parties and transitions and the dissimilarities in terms of pluralism outcome, do represent an excellent opportunity for comparison in terms of the effects of electoral integrity on the democratization of so-called neo-patrimonial regimes, characterized by their pursuit for hegemony.
| Research Centre | Research Group | Role in Project | Begin Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEI-Iscte | Institutions, Governance and International Relations | IR: Nuno Vidal | 2018-05-08 | 2020-06-30 |
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| Reference/Code | Funding DOI | Funding Type | Funding Program | Funding Amount (Global) | Funding Amount (Local) | Begin Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 333169403 | -- | Award | FCT - Aga Khan - -- - Portugal | 335637.00 | 243132.00 | 2018-09-10 | 2020-09-10 |
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With the objective to increase the research activity directed towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the possibility of associating scientific projects with the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in Ciência_Iscte. These are the Sustainable Development Goals identified for this project. For more detailed information on the Sustainable Development Goals, click here.
