Electoral Systems, Ethnic Fragmentation, and Party System Volatility in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract

This paper thus addresses two primary issues. What is the relationship between the types of electoral systems that have been used to govern initial elections in the democratizing states of Africa and the degree to wh ich party systems volatility has emerged? What other factors impact on the levels o f volatility? I examine the above questions using data from 31 African countries. I find that most of the factors often cited as impacting on party systems development do not account for the level of legislative volatility. However, the dominance of the ruling pa rty in the first election following democratic transition does impact the extent of leg islative volatility later. Nonetheless these cases are also less likely to lead to democra tic or politically stable outcomes