THE EXTENT OF POLITICAL PARTY INSTITUTIONALIZATION IN MALAWI: THE CASE OF UDF AND MCP

Abstract

Political parties are regarded as key institutions in the consolidation of democracy. The extent to which a political party is institutionalized is said to be a critical aspect that determines its effectiveness and the contribution it makes toward democracy. Despite this profound discovery, only a few studies have focused on assessing the institutionalization of individual political parties as opposed to those on party system institutionalization. In attempting to bridge the gap, this thesis investigates the extent to which political parties in Malawi are institutionalized. The study, taking advantage of different party institutionalization models, focused on analyzing and comparing Malawi political parties on systemness, autonomy, value infusion and reification. The study utilized data collected through field interviews as well as data from secondary sources. The methodology entailed combined use of qualitative and quantitative tools. The study findings indicate that political parties in Malawi are poorly institutionalized which significantly impact on their functioning. Whereas UDF scores slightly better than MCP on decisional autonomy, the party lags behind in systemness, value infusion and reification. Although the study attempts to portray a differentiated picture, on the whole, the results imply the parties’ limited state of institutionalization hence constraining their contribution to democratic consolidation.