CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Analo, Trevor Mutsiambo |
|---|---|
| Title | Leverage and Linkage: Comparing External Democratizing Pressure and Regime Outcome in Africa |
| Summary | This study applies the Levitsky and Way’s leverage and linkage model on Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Angola to see if and how international factors were influential in determining the regime trajectories of these four cases in Africa. It asks why one of them democratized while others either remained authoritarian regimes or stalled in the transition phase even after having turnovers. The study argues that leverage and linkage operate in distinct ways and different degrees to raise the cost of authoritarianism. Different combinations determine the influence of domestic and international factors thus leading to variations in regime outcome. The regime outcomes from Ghana and Kenya largely follow the lines of the model. Their relatively strong ties to the West generated powerful and consistent international pressure that forced their autocratic regimes to democratize and introduce pluralist political systems in the early 1990s. Zimbabwe and Angola perfectly follow the line of the model. Zimbabwe, a case of low linkage and medium leverage, illustrates that leverage without linkage is not effective in raising the cost of authoritarianism. While Angola, a case of low leverage and high linkage illustrates that high linkage without a strong domestic pro-democracy movement and an effective opposition is unlikely to democratize. |
| Supervisor | Schneider, Carsten |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/analo_trevor.pdf |
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