The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 28 May 2024 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Hangala Siachiwena.

About the Seminar:

Explaining party switching in an institutionalized party system: The case of South Africa 1999-2019

Institutionalized party systems are said to foster stronger party allegiances and fewer switches. However, this expectation is called into question When we observe the case of South Africa. Despite being characterized by a highly institutionalized dominant party system as well as party-centred electoral and candidate selection rules, South Africa has experienced frequent episodes of floor-crossing over time. What factors explain party switching?

This article advances an analytical framework that links elites' vote-seeking and office-seeking incentives to party switching and party system functioning. Utilizing an original dataset of 5,230 candidates to the National Assembly and the Provincial Legislatures of South Africa between 1999 and 2019, this study charts the overall rate of party switching and tests hypotheses postulating the effect of party size and candidates' electoral marginality on the likelihood to switch parties. The analyses reveal that candidates from smaller parties and who failed re-election by the narrowest margin are more likely to switch parties in the next election. Additionally, most candidates who switched parties tended to go to parties that fared better than their original party in the next election; and they switched from parties that either did worse or stayed the same. The study's contributions highlight the role of intraparty competition in patterns of elite migration and reveal the importance of linking elite behaviour to party system functioning.

Speakers

Hangala Siachiwena is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa at the University of Cape Town (UCT). His research interests include social policy, the political economy of development, and African politics, with a primary focus on Southern Africa. He holds a BA in Development Studies and Economics from the University of Zambia, an MPhil in Development Studies, and DPhil in Sociology, from UCT.

 28 May 2024
 12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29 Robert Leslie Social Science Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa