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Executive dominance and the politics of quota representation in Uganda*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2012

Ragnhild L. Muriaas  and
Vibeke Wang
Ragnhild L. Muriaas*
Affiliation:
Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Christies gt. 15, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
Vibeke Wang*
Affiliation:
Department of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Christies gt. 15, N-5007 Bergen, Norway
*
Email: ragnhild.muriaas@isp.uib.no
Email: vibeke.wang@isp.uib.no
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Abstract

Quota policies securing the presence of marginalised groups in decision-making bodies have been adopted across sub-Saharan Africa. These policies are frequently understood through the lens of a pluralist perspective. This stance is not appropriate in African regimes characterised by executive dominance. Through a qualitative study of official documents, newspaper articles and interviews conducted during two field studies in Uganda in 2005 and 2010, this article shows how the understanding of quota policies in Africa may gain from the corporatist debate on interest representation. The analysis reveals that the incumbent National Resistance Movement has employed the reserved seat policy strategically to maintain its dominant position, and that strategies for using the quota system have evolved gradually over time in response to key political events, and the interests of group activists at the local and national levels with vested interests in its survival.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 309 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

Many thanks to Einar Berntzen, Lise Rakner, Lars Svåsand, Kjetil Selvik and Morten Bøås for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We would also like to thank the participants of the workshop on ‘Between democratic consolidation and hybrid regimes’, at the Nordic Political Science Congress 2011 and the two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments. The project received funding from The Research Council of Norway.

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