Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorLia Nijzink
dc.contributor.authorMozaffar, Shaheen
dc.contributor.authorAzevedo, Elisabete
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-24T13:13:37Z
dc.date.available2016-05-24T13:13:37Z
dc.date.issued2006
dc.date.updated2016-05-24T13:12:12Z
dc.description.abstractWhile modern parliaments in Africa receive little attention in the scholarly literature, they are drawing considerable attention from the international donor community. Since the early 1990s, when many African countries resumed multi-party elections and democratic practices, legislative strengthening programmes have become an important part of international democracy assistance. Despite these programmes, our knowledge about Africa's current parliaments remains limited. They seem to be widely regarded as potential agents for democratic change but whether national legislatures are in fact enhancing the quality of democracy on the African continent is far from clear. This study discusses two important issues that lie at the heart of the democracy-enhancing potential of Africa's current parliaments: their institutional capacity and the way they are perceived by the citizens they represent. After a brief review of the existing literature on legislatures in Africa, the essay first considers whether they have the institutional capacity to fulfil a meaningful role and provides a detailed description of the autonomy of parliaments in 16 selected countries. It then turns to the way Africans perceive and evaluate their parliaments. Do citizens see their legislatures as valuable institutions? Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the prospects of African parliaments becoming agents of democratic change.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitation, Mozaffar, S., & Azevedo, E. (2006). Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions. <i>The Journal of Legislative Studies</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19836en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation, Shaheen Mozaffar, and Elisabete Azevedo "Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions." <i>The Journal of Legislative Studies</i> (2006) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19836en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationNijzink, L., Mozaffar, S., & Azevedo, E. (2006). Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 12(3-4), 311-335.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1357-2334en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Lia Nijzink AU - Mozaffar, Shaheen AU - Azevedo, Elisabete AB - While modern parliaments in Africa receive little attention in the scholarly literature, they are drawing considerable attention from the international donor community. Since the early 1990s, when many African countries resumed multi-party elections and democratic practices, legislative strengthening programmes have become an important part of international democracy assistance. Despite these programmes, our knowledge about Africa's current parliaments remains limited. They seem to be widely regarded as potential agents for democratic change but whether national legislatures are in fact enhancing the quality of democracy on the African continent is far from clear. This study discusses two important issues that lie at the heart of the democracy-enhancing potential of Africa's current parliaments: their institutional capacity and the way they are perceived by the citizens they represent. After a brief review of the existing literature on legislatures in Africa, the essay first considers whether they have the institutional capacity to fulfil a meaningful role and provides a detailed description of the autonomy of parliaments in 16 selected countries. It then turns to the way Africans perceive and evaluate their parliaments. Do citizens see their legislatures as valuable institutions? Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the prospects of African parliaments becoming agents of democratic change. DA - 2006 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - The Journal of Legislative Studies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2006 SM - 1357-2334 T1 - Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions TI - Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19836 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19836
dc.identifier.urihttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13572330600875563
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation, Mozaffar S, Azevedo E. Parliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptions. The Journal of Legislative Studies. 2006; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19836.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceThe Journal of Legislative Studiesen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fjls20/current
dc.subject.otherParliaments
dc.subject.otherdemocracy
dc.subject.otherAfrican continent
dc.titleParliaments and the enhancement of democracy on the African continent: An analysis of institutional capacity and public perceptionsen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
Files
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.72 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles