Partisan identification in Africa: an exploratory study in Mozambique

Abstract

In Mozambique , as in most of Africa, Muiti- party democracy is relatively new and thus the study of electoral bahaviour is still in its infancy, in this study Mozambican survey data from a 2002 survey conducted by afrobarometer is used to shed some light on partisan identification. The survey intervierwed a sample of 1400 Mozambicans over the age of 10 fron August to October 2002, ram domly selected from 11 provinces of the Republic of Mozambique. Face- to- face interviews of thr respondents' choice were conducted. Collecting data on political attides in new democracies in Africa poses a number of challenges and thus thesis is mainly exploratory and relies on a single cross- sectional survey. In this study the souces of partisan identification in Mozambique are examined. It examineas whether reported identification with the governing or opposition parties is related to the kinds od factors usually ideentified in the comparative literature on partisan identification and voting behaviour.. the factors include social cleavages ( such as ethinicity or region), cultural values (such as individualism versus collectivism, democratic versus authoritarian values), econimoc and prospective evaluations) political factors ( including access to media or politicao discussions with friends). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the significance of these various factors in partisan identication. The results of the study revealed that partisan support for the ruling party in Mozambique is driven by popular evaluations of the performance of the incumbent; secondly, partisan support for opposition parties is difficult to predict. Thirdly, cognitive awareness distinguishes voters who use economic reasoning for choosing among political parties from voters who revert to social or cultural identities and values. Finally, this study did not find any important effects of region, rutal vs. urbam location, religion, gereration, gender or class on party identification, this challenges widely- held assumpions about the impact of these factors either in Africa and/or new democracies. One of most important findings of this study was the important cognitive awareness plays in differentiating distinct bases of partisan choice. This study points to the fact that cognitively aware voters make better informed and more performance- based sicisions than disengaged voters, When the people are informed, they help to move African politics from the realm of cultural identiity to the realm of competing policies- the mechenics that tend to shape partisan identification in other democracies. A fuller test of theories of party identification in countries like Mozambique requires more comprehensive data and a better pilotical environment . Nevertheless, this thesis provides methodological and theoretical contributions and opens up new avenues that researches can take to improve our understandind of partisanship in Mozambique speciafically, and in Africa in general