African Legislatures and Horizontal Accountability

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

African parliaments have remained in the shadows of powerful- some even say imperial- presidencies (Pempeh 2008). The introduction of multipartyism in the early 1990’s opened up African political regimes for multiparty competition, but often failed to re-balance the powers between different branches of government. African presidencies maintained many of their authoritarian powers, while parliaments remained subordinate to powerful executives (Bratton and van de Walle 1997). At worst, African parliaments have been a tool for authoritarian co-optation, rather than a venue for effective horizontal accountability (Gandhi and Pzeworski 2007). Moreover, individual legislators often remain weak and unable to perform their vital roles as monitors of executive power. Turnover among African MPs is generally high (Warren forthcoming) and empirical research suggests that voters mostly reward MPs for their ability to attract resources for constituency development (Lindberg 2010). As a consequence, it is unsurprising that African presidents have often been able to co-opt opposition MPs by offering resources and promotions (Young 2014; Francois et al. 2015). Still, however, research from the continent has concluded that the strength of legislatures have varied considerably across space and time and that certain African MPs have adopted a more activist position and effectively used their platforms to exert horizontal accountability (Barkan 2009). This panel brings together a diverse set of scholars to discuss the role of legislatures in contemporary African democracy. Papers in the panel ponder whether, how, and when African parliaments and parliamentarians effectively function as a check on executive power. We are particularly interested in the ways in which strong legislatures may promote democratic consolidation and prevent democratic backsliding, corruption, and policy failure. The papers in the panel represent a wealth of different methodological approaches and cover a multitude of countries on the continent.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 53: African Politics Conference Group

Individual Presentations

• Who Talks to the Chief, Who Builds the Party? - Anja Osei, University of Konstanz

• The Politics of Parliamentary Accountability in Africa - Ken Ochieng' Opalo, Georgetown University

• Government Type and Public Spending in Africa - Margaret H. Ariotti, University of Georgia

• African Legislatures and Accountability During Government Crisis - Michael Wahman, Michigan State University; Peter A. VonDoepp, University of Vermont; Nikolaos Frantzeskakis, Michigan State University

Chair

• Carl LeVan American University-SIS

Discussant

• Yonatan L. Morse University of Connecticut