Democratic Transition in Madagascar, Malawi - Digital Collections

129 Pages·2011·0.74 MB·English

DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN MADAGASCAR, MALAWI, AND
MOZAMBIQUE

THESIS

Presented to the Graduate Council of
Texas State University-San Marcos
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements

for the Degree

Master of ARTS

by

Hans M. Rakotomanga, M.A.

San Marcos, Texas
December, 2011
DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN MADAGASCAR, MALAWI, AND
MOZAMBIQUE

Committee Members Approved:

__________________________
Dr. Robert Gorman, Chair

__________________________
Dr. Edward Mihalkanin

__________________________
Dr. Augustine Agwuele

Approved:

___________________________
J. Michael Willoughby
Dean of the Graduate College
COPYRIGHT
By
Hans Rakotomanga
2011
FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT
Fair Use
This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553,
section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations
from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for
financial gain without the author‟s express written permission is not allowed.

Duplication Permission

As the copyright holder of this work I, Hans Rakotomanga, authorize duplication of this
work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge Mr. Roland Bordelon; the man
who had the vision of bringing a Malagasy student to the United States in the quest for
higher education. Secondly, I would like to thank my family back in Madagascar along
with my new American friends and family in Louisiana and Texas. Their continued
support helped me achieve this research. And lastly, this thesis would have not been
completed without the help of my research committee members: Dr. Robert Gorman, Dr.
Edward Mihalkanin, and Dr. Augustine Agwuele. I sincerely thank them for their
critique, wisdom, and patience throughout the thesis process.
This manuscript was submitted on September 20, 2011.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ v

CHAPTER
I. FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................... 1
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1
Organization of thesis ................................................................................................... 3
Framework ................................................................................................................... 4

II. MALAWI .......................................................................................................... 14
Pre Colonial Period .................................................................................................... 13
Colonial Period ........................................................................................................... 14
Independence .............................................................................................................. 16
Banda‟s Rule .............................................................................................................. 17
Democratic Transition ................................................................................................ 20
Elections ..................................................................................................................... 24
Political Parties ........................................................................................................... 27
Civil Society ............................................................................................................... 32
Challenges .................................................................................................................. 35

III. MOZAMBIQUE .............................................................................................. 38
Pre Colonial Period .................................................................................................... 39
Colonial Period ........................................................................................................... 40
Independence .............................................................................................................. 41
Civil War .................................................................................................................... 43
Democratic Transition ................................................................................................ 48
vi
Elections ..................................................................................................................... 49
Political Parties ........................................................................................................... 55
Civil Society ............................................................................................................... 57
Challenges .................................................................................................................. 60

IV. MADAGASCAR ............................................................................................. 62
Pre Colonial Period .................................................................................................... 63
Colonial Period ........................................................................................................... 66
Independence .............................................................................................................. 68
Democratic Transition ................................................................................................ 72
Elections ..................................................................................................................... 83
Civil Society ............................................................................................................... 85
Political Parties ........................................................................................................... 91

V. SIMILARATIES AND DIFFERENCES .......................................................... 99
Colonial Experience ................................................................................................. 100
One Party Dominance .............................................................................................. 102
Different Democratic Transitions ............................................................................. 102
Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 110

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 114

vii
CHAPTER I
FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The 1990s marked an optimistic era in Africa‟s political history. After nearly
three decades of authoritarian rule, often characterized by “political repression,
corruption, human rights abuses, and economic mismanagement,”1 leaders of various
African nations finally participated in multi-party elections. Since then, these countries
have faced a daunting challenge; transitioning from a simple electoral to a consolidated
democracy. This thesis examines three specific sub-Saharan countries: Madagascar,
Malawi, and Mozambique. All three nations have experienced a democratic transition
and nearly two decades of open elections consisting of different competing parties. So
how have they fared? Should we now consider them consolidated democracies? When
examining three pivotal facets used in assessing the quality of democracy: elections,

1 Guy Martin, “Preface: Democratic Transition in Africa,” A Journal of Opinion 21, No. ½ (1993): 6.
1
2

political parties and civil society; it is apparent that there still are pitfalls existent in their
paths towards consolidation. Though all three countries have completed great strides in
political liberalization, the gap between electoral democracy and consolidated democracy
has not been bridged. The discussion of democratic transition is a pertinent subject in
contemporary African politics. All three countries examined in this thesis have followed
a similar history: a long period of colonial rule, national independence around the 1960s,
an Authoritarian regime, and an eventual democratic transition around the mid 1990s.
Current transformations of authoritarian regimes in these cases, however, should not be
mistaken for fully fledged consolidated democracy. As Michael Bratton observes,
“political liberalization and democratization are simultaneous and complementary,”2 but
each is ultimately an autonomous process. The former is simply the disassembly of
authoritarian regimes, while the latter requires deliberate construction of democratic
principles. Madagascar and Malawi experienced a dictator with a dominant party for
more than two decades after gaining independence from their colonial powers. All three
nations have also held multi-party elections since the mid 1990s to break hegemonic

2 Goran Hyden and Michael Bratton, Governance and Politics in Africa (Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner, 1992),
29.
3

authoritarian practices. When examining several components of democracy beyond the
electoral dimension, however, it is evident that all three governments are not yet in their
consolidated form.
Organization of thesis
The first chapter of this thesis will lay out the major framework used to discuss
the current state of democratic transition for our three countries. There are certainly many
definitions and types of democracies as well as different criteria used in gauging the
quality of democracies. This first section will elaborate on exactly which definition will
be used for the research. Furthermore, it is difficult to pin point one democratic theory
that has held empirically true for many African countries. This section will expand on
those obstacles which scientists face when trying to paint the region, or the continent,
with one brushstroke. Africa simply cannot be “treated as a monolith.”3 Lastly, the first
chapter will outline the reasons why I have chosen these three sub-Saharan countries and
why this research is relevant towards their transitions to possibly becoming consolidated
democracies.
Each country will be assigned its own chapter. The main focus of the research is
to assess the current state of each government and where they are currently on the
democratic ladder. Though this thesis focuses on contemporary politics, it is imperative
to briefly examine the colonial era as it establishes the pre-conditions existent in today‟s
African political culture. Each country study will outline major post-independence

3 Gretchen Bauer and Scott D. Taylor, Politics in Southern Africa: State and Society in Transition (Boulder,
CO; Lynne Reinner, 2005), 2.