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By the People, For the People? The Institutional Development of Zimbabwe's Constitution from 1980 to 2010

Olsson Selerud, Henrik LU (2010) MRSK01 20091
Human Rights Studies
Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
Abstract
The development of the constitution of Zimbabwe reflects many aspects of the political turmoil currently troubling the country. The constitution as an institution can therefore be analyzed in a perspective of historical institutionalism where the theory of path dependency provides an understanding of the choices made by different political actors throughout Zimbabwe’s independent history. The adoption of the Lancaster House Constitution in 1980 was a critical juncture and the development of the constitutional institution has followed a self-reinforcing sequence through which the ruling party, ZANU-PF, has been able to consolidate power while oppositional forces have been marginalized. The powers of the executive have increased dramatically... (More)
The development of the constitution of Zimbabwe reflects many aspects of the political turmoil currently troubling the country. The constitution as an institution can therefore be analyzed in a perspective of historical institutionalism where the theory of path dependency provides an understanding of the choices made by different political actors throughout Zimbabwe’s independent history. The adoption of the Lancaster House Constitution in 1980 was a critical juncture and the development of the constitutional institution has followed a self-reinforcing sequence through which the ruling party, ZANU-PF, has been able to consolidate power while oppositional forces have been marginalized. The powers of the executive have increased dramatically since independence. Numerous constitutional reforms during the 1980s and 1990s have followed this development. The attempts to democratically reform the constitution have failed as the constitutional referendum in February 2000 highlights. The constitution remains an institution surrounded by a fierce political debate as a new draft constitution is currently being deliberated as part of the aftermath of the 2008 elections where the opposition party MDC won a majority of votes. As the historical development of the constitutional institution has so far followed a trajectory of executive power consolidation and a top-down system of alteration the need for popular participation in the constitution-making process is critical. (Less)
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author
Olsson Selerud, Henrik LU
supervisor
organization
course
MRSK01 20091
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
independence, elections, critical juncture, self-reinforcing sequence, path dependency, historical institutionalism, Zimbabwe, Lancaster House, Constitution, institution, colonialism, democracy
language
English
id
1609300
date added to LUP
2010-07-28 16:46:18
date last changed
2014-09-04 08:27:55
@misc{1609300,
  abstract     = {{The development of the constitution of Zimbabwe reflects many aspects of the political turmoil currently troubling the country. The constitution as an institution can therefore be analyzed in a perspective of historical institutionalism where the theory of path dependency provides an understanding of the choices made by different political actors throughout Zimbabwe’s independent history. The adoption of the Lancaster House Constitution in 1980 was a critical juncture and the development of the constitutional institution has followed a self-reinforcing sequence through which the ruling party, ZANU-PF, has been able to consolidate power while oppositional forces have been marginalized. The powers of the executive have increased dramatically since independence. Numerous constitutional reforms during the 1980s and 1990s have followed this development. The attempts to democratically reform the constitution have failed as the constitutional referendum in February 2000 highlights. The constitution remains an institution surrounded by a fierce political debate as a new draft constitution is currently being deliberated as part of the aftermath of the 2008 elections where the opposition party MDC won a majority of votes. As the historical development of the constitutional institution has so far followed a trajectory of executive power consolidation and a top-down system of alteration the need for popular participation in the constitution-making process is critical.}},
  author       = {{Olsson Selerud, Henrik}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{By the People, For the People? The Institutional Development of Zimbabwe's Constitution from 1980 to 2010}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}