Does ideology matter in Zambian politics?

Hangala Siachiwena and Courtney Hallink gave the March 10th Institute lunchtime seminar on their work on political parties and social welfare policies. Theoretical approaches to studying African politics have emphasized the salience of ethnicity and clientelism to understanding political parties, while downplaying the significance of ideology. This research challenges conventional arguments that political parties in Africa are devoid of programmatic content and that party leaders do not articulate ideas that can be described as ideology. More information is available here.