Abstract

This study is an examination of political participation in Malawi through political parties using the case study of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the United Democratic Party (UDF) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The main focus of the study was to establish whether political parties in Malawi are viable linkage institutions that people can use to influence public policy making. Understanding this dynamic is crucial because the main reason political parties exist in a democracy is to connect citizens with their government. Their performance in helping citizens influence government policies determines whether they are relevant actors in a democracy. But for parties to effectively connect people with their government, they need to be democratic by allowing their members to influence their policies. It is for this reason that this study sought to establish whether political parties in Malawi have the spaces that their members can use to influence their policies and, ultimately, government policies. The study explored this area by investigating three dimensions of political participation: Decision making, level of activism at the local branches of political parties and the extent to which people at these local branches prioritise public policy issues at their meetings. The research was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The data collection techniques used were focus group discussions (FGDs), a questionnaire survey and key informant interviews. FGDs and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data from ordinary party members while key informant interviews were utilised to engage experts and party leaders at constituency, district, regional and national levels. The major argument the study advances on the basis of the findings is that political parties in Malawi are limited as linkage institutions as they do not offer their members adequate spaces which they can use to influence party and public policy making. The research established that people’s participation is very low in key areas such as Parliament, the formulation and adoption of party manifestos and the decisions made at party conventions. The study also established that members do not participate actively in party activities at the local levels and that public policy issues are given low priority at the local meetings they hold.

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School	: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issued Date	: 2010

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