Lunchtime seminar: Jeremy Seekings

12:45 - 14:00 SAST
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 18 March 2025 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Jeremy Seekings.
About the Seminar:
Primary elections and political parties at the local level in Botswana
As more and more African political parties have adopted primary elections as a mechanism for selecting candidates for parliamentary elections, it has become clear that primary elections often or generally result in considerable turnover as incumbent legislators are challenged and defeated. There is little research, however, on how this plays out on the ground.
This paper examines primary elections in central Botswana in 2018-19 and 2023-24 to shed light on who contests primaries, how, and with what outcomes. Outcomes include not only who is selected as any given party's candidate but also when losers defect to other parties or simply 'decampaign' (against) the successful candidate in the ensuing (open) election. The paper explores how primary campaigns fuel disunity and fragmentation in parties as well as floor-crossing.
Speakers
Jeremy Seekings is Professor of Politics and Sociology at the University of Cape Town. His current research in Southern Africa focuses on the politics of social protection, on the one hand, and elections and political parties, on the other.
He is a member of the Botswana Election Research Network which is conducting research on the 2024 elections in Botswana. He is also part of the continent-wide Afrobarometer team.
18 March 2025
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