From Protest to Parties: Party-building and democratization in Africa

Abstract

From Protest to Parties, now issued in paperback, poses the important but neglected question of why ‘we find strong, cross-ethnic opposition parties in some democratizing countries, while opposition parties tend toward organizational weakness and fragmentation in others?’ (p. 245). In answering this question, LeBas ‘engages with a larger debate about the relationship between protest and political change’ and, more specifically, of whether ‘sustained popular mobilization assist[s] or hinder[s] democratization’ (p. 13). By drawing on the case studies of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Kenya, LeBas provides a clear and persuasive response, and the analysis is thought-provoking and controversial. In addition, the book provides an excellent overview of historical legacies, the organization of protest, and formation of parties in the three country case studies – although the level of detail may prove a distraction for some, while the methodology raises questions about whether the analysis is really applicable to ‘other late Third World democratizers’ as claimed (p. 5).