The 2021 Zambian Election

Hangala Siachiwena and Sishuwa Sishuwa (together with Nicole Beardsworth of the University of the Witwatersrand) edited a special issue of the Journal of Eastern African Studies on behalf of the Zambia Elections Research Network (which the Institute co-hosts).

The special issue focuses on Zambia’s 2021 elections and specifically the limits to ‘incumbent advantage’. Whereas incumbents generally win re-election, in 2021 Zambia’s voters overwhelmingly rejected their incumbent president.

Among the articles in the collection are analyses of urban voters (by Hangala), of the election in one rural province (by Jeremy Seekings), of the incumbent’s abuse of legal processes (coauthored by Sishuwa) and of the historical roots of incumbent (dis)advantage in Zambia (by Sishuwa), as well as an introduction by the guest editors.