Enhancing Democracy With Coalition Governments and Politics

Political coalition takes on particular significance in post-colonial Africa, where coalition governments have emerged as responses to challenges faced by the electoral base of liberation parties. This book delves into this complex landscape, thoroughly investigating the pivotal role of coalition governments formed both before and after elections.

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Political coalition formation is a global strategy employed by leaders and parties in their pursuit of power. This practice takes on particular significance in post-colonial Africa, where coalition governments have emerged as responses to challenges faced by the electoral base of liberation parties. In countries like Congo Kinshasa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Mauritius, South Africa, and the Kingdom of Lesotho, coalition politics serves as a model for conflict resolution and democratic governance. Enhancing Democracy With Coalition Governments and Politics delves into this complex landscape, thoroughly investigating the pivotal role of coalition governments formed both before and after elections. It sheds light on the challenges posed to dominant liberation movements and the urgent need for a radical agenda to address corruption, maladministration, and the abuse of political power. The book focuses on Africa's pursuit of sound electoral democracy and democratic governance. Enhancing Democracy With Coalition Governments and Politics aims to conceptually understand coalition governments, trace their historical evolution in Africa, interrogate the triggers for coalition formation, assess their impact on electoral democracy, and explore coalition politics at both local and national levels. By providing theoretical and empirical insights, the book equips policymakers, practitioners, scholars, and researchers in the fields of Politics, Sociology, Public Administration, and Development Studies with tools to comprehend, form, manage, and sustain political coalitions as vehicles for democratic governance. The book covers a range of topics, from theoretical discourses underpinning coalition politics to factors influencing coalition formation, approaches and models, challenges faced by coalitions, and their impact on service delivery and governance. It explores the nature of coalitions within different regimes, examining conditions for their sustainability and evaluating their democratic implications. This comprehensive analysis, as presented in Enhancing Democracy With Coalition Governments and Politics, addresses the needs of a diverse audience, including policymakers in government, private sectors, and civil society, as well as scholars and researchers in academic institutions specializing in political and social sciences. Ultimately, the book aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of coalition governments in enhancing democracy in various political contexts.