This book is about the nature of African political parties. The first such study in book length since the 1960s, it demystifies several long-standing assumptions about politics in ethnically divided societies. Its main argument is that not all African parties are ethnic parties; instead, a wide variety of political party types shape the African political landscape. Although African parties by and large refrain from programmatic ideas, such ideas do feature in African politics. A detailed assessment of political parties in several countries indicates that, over time, the political salience of ethnicity is decreasing. Multi-party competition in Africa does not lead to a hardening of ethnic relations.

This book contributes to the recent and ongoing debate about African parties. It confirms those who claim that the salience of ethnicity in young democracies in general and in Africa in particular has been exaggerated (see, e.g., Chandra 2005, Lindberg and Morrison 2008, Basedau and Stroh 2012). In addition, this work broadens scholars’ conceptual understanding of parties in Africa and elsewhere. Its findings are based on the first empirical application of a new global party typology.