Party Politics and Economic Reform in Africa's Democracies

Argues that the interaction of formal institutions and the quality of democracy explain patterns of private sector development across Africa.

M. Anne Pitcher (Author)

9780521738262, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 May 2012

328 pages, 5 b/w illus. 2 maps 13 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

'The book highlights the complexity of processes of economic reform in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is a valuable addition to the comparative literature on economic reform and its effects. This work will be of great interest to Africanists and scholars of economic reform in other parts of the developing world.' Adrienne LeBas, Perspectives on Politics

In Party Politics and Economic Reform in Africa's Democracies, M. Anne Pitcher offers an engaging new theory to explain the different trajectories of private sector development across contemporary Africa. Pitcher argues that the outcomes of economic reforms depend not only on the kinds of institutional arrangements adopted by states in order to create or expand their private sectors, but also on the nature of party system competition and the quality of democracy in particular countries. To illustrate her claim, Pitcher draws on several original data sets covering twenty-seven countries in Africa, and detailed case studies of the privatization process in Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa. This study underscores the importance of formal institutions and political context to the design and outcome of economic policies in developing countries.

1. Understanding institutional development in Africa: an introduction
2. From motivational to imperative commitment: variation and convergence of private sector institutions across Africa
3. The impact of party politics and democratic quality on economic restructuring
4. Party fragmentation and 'ad hoc' privatization in a limited democracy: Zambia
5. Stable parties, limited democracy, and strategic compromise: Mozambique
6. Stable parties, limited democracy, and strategic compromise: South Africa
7. Conclusion: rules, politics, and discretion.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], Black & Asian studies [JFSL3]