Electoral authoritarianism and one-party dominance in Southern Africa: The Zimbabwean case

One party dominance has existed both in democratic, hybrid regimes and undemocratic states. The paper sets out to interrogate the nature of one party dominance in Southern Africa, how incumbent party sustain its dominance and rule, the response of opposition parties and civil society to the dominance. To this end therefore the paper uses Zimbabwe as a case study and using a combination of historical analysis and the electoral authoritarianism as a theoretical framework, it investigates one party dominance, placing it in a historical context and continuum and projects into the future. It shows how one party dominance has been perpetuated by a plethora of tactics such as electoral manipulation, crushing of opposition political parties, undue influence of the judiciary, amendments to the constitution, control of institutions such as the media, security apparatus, use of state resources for party use, resource capture and control patronage and clientelism. However, equally important is the role played by opposition parties in aiding the perpetuation of one party dominance. The paper argues that weaknesses by opposition, the dominance by the leader, lack of coherent strategy and a lack of innovation in adapting to political dynamics serves to weaken their ability to usurp incumbents. Finally the paper makes a prescriptive study and projects the future prospects of democracy in the country.