Following the (re-) introduction of multiparty systems in Africa in the early 1990s, third and fourth elections in Africa's new democracies and hybrid regimes are now being seen. Although there is a large and growing literature on democracy and elections in Africa, research on political parties and party systems in Africa is still in its infancy. Various contributions in this volume address the theoretical and conceptual challenges provided by the African parties and party systems with their particular features of weak organization, informal relationships dominated by 'big men' and clientelism within a neopatrimonial setting. Others raise the crucial question of representation in relation to ethnicity, civil society and gender. Further chapters ask questions about the appropriate electoral system for the multiethnic context in Africa and deal with the problem of electoral system reform. Finally, there are chapters which focus on the neglected area of electoral violence, and the moral role of money and vote buying. An important conclusion is that party research in Africa needs more conceptual clarity as well as empirical research particularly on party organization, voting behavior, and the role of ethnicity. The volume is written for academics and graduate students in Comparative Politics, Party Research, Electoral and African Studies. It will also be useful for professionals dealing with Africa in (political) development assistance.

Democratization since the implosion of the communist bloc displays a mixed balance. While the neo-democracies in Central Eastern European Countries can be seen as largely consolidated, many other processes of democratization in other parts of the world such as Africa, Asia and Latin America got stuck as unconsolidated or became defective democracies, some 'regressed' into hybrid regimes or were even turned into autocracies. While transitology dealt with the transition from authoritarian rule, the reverse process, the transition from democratic rule, remained almost completely outside the scholarly attention. This special issue will address the problems of the regression of democracy and aims at closing the gap between research on democracy and democratization on one side and the emergence of authoritarian regimes on the other. The contributions of this volume analyse the different phenomena in which decline of democracy fans out: the loss of quality, which means a silent regression; the backslide into hybrid regimes (hybridization); and the breakdown of democracy.

Parteien in Entwicklungs- und Transformationslandern zeichnen sich ahnlich wie im Westen durch abnehmende gesellschaftlich Verankerung, abnehmende programmatische Orientierung und Parteiidentifikation der Wahler sowie Mitgliederzahl aus. In Entwicklungslandern sind sie auch schwacher formal organisiert, wobei dieses Defizit teilweise durch andere Formen der gesellschaftlichen Verankerung von Parteien kompensiert wird. Hierunter fallen Phanomene wie der Klientelismus, der Faktionalismus und Patronage, sowie der Appell an ethnische/religioese Identitaten, die im Prozess der Modernisierung keineswegs zuruckgetreten sind. Sie sind nicht pauschal als demokratieschadigend anzusehen, gefahrden aber die demokratische Konsolidierung dann, wenn sie ihren verfassungsmassigen Rahmen unterhoehlen.

Der Band stellt den Zusammenhang von Wohlfahrtsstaat, Sozialpolitik und demokratischer Transformation in den Vordergrund. Wie ist wohlfahrtsstaatliche Politik unter den Bedingungen imperfekter Markte und Demokratisierung moglich? Welche Pragekrafte wirken auf wohlfahrtsstaatliche Politik in jungen Demokratien und wie wirkt diese auf den demokratischen Transformationsprozess zuruck? Der Band leistet einen Beitrag zur Erforschung dieser Fragen. Neben den historischen, sozialen, wirtschaftlichen und politischen Rahmenbedingung der Entwicklung wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Politiken werden die konkreten Muster von "Wohlfahrtsregimen" in Transformationssystemen untersucht. Hierzu werden konzeptionelle und theoretisch orientierte Beitrage zusammen mit Landerstudien und regionalen Vergleichen zu Osteuropa, Lateinamerika, Afrika und Asien vorgelegt.