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The Impact of Floor Crossing on Electoral Politics and Representative Democracy in Lesotho

There is a firm consensus among both academics and policy analysts that political parties are the linchpin of representative democracy. However, parties require, among other things, internal cohesion, democratic and visionary leadership, intra-party democracy and constructive management of internal conflict as well as mutually beneficial inter-party relations if they are to add value to representative […]

Electoral System Reform and Implications for Gender Equality

This paper examines the impact of an electoral system on women’s participation in electoral politics and their representation in the legislature. It advances the argument that while the nature of an electoral system influences the degree of women’s representation other factors also play a role. Upon independence in 1966 Lesotho adopted the first-past-the-post system. This […]

The 2007 General Election in Lesotho: Managing the Post-Election Conflict

The optimism triggered by Lesotho’s transition from military dictatorship to multiparty democracy and the reform of the electoral system from the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system to the mixed member proportional (MMP) system may be fizzling out. In 1993 the country underwent an historic transition from military dictatorship to embrace multiparty democracy through an epoch-making election. Since […]

The 2007 General Election in Lesotho: Abuse of the MMP System?

Lesotho took an innovative step forward in 2001, when the introduction of the MMP electoral system became a central part of the political and consensual solutions to the upheaval following the 1998 elections. MMP combines proportional representation on a national scale with single-member constituencies and the solution was seen by many as a promising step […]

What Future for Electoral Studies?: A Critique

Using approaches drawn from critical theory this paper explores the idea of electoral studies from historical and contemporary perspectives. It argues that the techniques used in electoral studies – in Southern African and elsewhere – have been corroded by neo-liberal economics and therefore by the rote and routine of management studies. Electoral studies might secure […]

A Preface to an Inclusive African Electoral System Reform Agenda

The main purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of why African electoral systems should be reformed and how to do so in order to improve the quality of representation, participation, and government effectiveness. We attempt to offer a generic framework, a menu, so to speak, whereby African political parties and […]

Opposition Party Alliances and Elections in Botswana, Lesotho and Zambia

The Southern African Development Community has made significant democratic progress since the 1990s following a wave of ferocious internal conflicts, as in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In order for the achievements to be sustained the region requires viable political parties, which are key role players in a democracy. The majority of the […]

Electoral Reform in Southern Africa: Voter Turnout, Electoral Rules and Infrastructure

Elections are the most important elements of democracies and, with referenda, the only way to organise mass participation and to promote government accountability. Low voter turnout can be seen as an indicator of low legitimacy and limited political stability. The African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development champion […]

Irish Electoral Politics

Why might South and Southern Africans find the Irish electoral experience especially relevant and instructive? Firstly, they may identify parallels with their own recent political history. Ireland’s political institutions are the result of a post-colonial settlement and were designed to accommodate an ethnic minority. They survived a long period of one-party rule. Historically they were […]

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