Conclusion and Notes on Comparative and Policy Perspectives on Party Proliferation in Africa

Abstract

The book’s conclusion provides overarching insights on the relationship between parties and democratization in Senegal, reviewing the conclusions drawn in each preceding chapter. The conclusion places these insights from Senegal into comparative perspective, discussing where beyond Senegal it would be productive to explore the book’s hypotheses about party formation, opposition trajectories, ruling party loyalty, and presidential turnover. It also summarizes the policy implications of the research, describing how the book’s findings have the potential to enhance the approaches taken by domestic policymakers, foreign diplomats, and international development practitioners concerned with democracy, rule of law, and governance issues in countries like Senegal. Tying together various parts of the research, the conclusion then explains why party proliferation in Senegal has neither definitively fostered nor structurally impeded democratization. Policy measures aimed at helping Senegalese citizens use parties to get good governance outcomes will have to be not only politically smart and technically sound; they will also need to yield tangible progress on programmatic issues, as well as visible changes to the party system’s structure to win the “hearts and minds” of citizens disillusioned with the role of parties in personalistic, patronage-based politics.

The statements and analysis expressed are solely those of the author and have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and do not represent the position or policy of the American Bar Association.