This edited collection provides a much-needed empirical inquiry into the consequences of different types of party systems for democratic practice. As comparative studies of political parties and African politics have been engaged as of late in a burgeoning examination of party types, party systems, and opposition party strength in Africa (LeBas Reference LeBas2011; Erdmann & Basedau Reference Erdmann, Basedau, Doorenspleet and Nijzink2013; Arriola Reference Arriola2012; Elischer 2014; Riedl Reference Riedl2014, inter alia), they open the door to analysis of the consequences of different trajectories of party development. This volume does just that. The editors Renske Doorenspleet and Lia Nijzink are critically attuned to the reality that democratic outcomes are multifaceted – they include representation, accountability, government responsiveness, promoting citizen participation, and fostering citizen satisfaction with democratic process and outcomes. Therefore, Doorenspleet and Nijzink argue that different types of party systems are likely to have varied outcomes for different elements of the democratic experience, a key point that is often overlooked in aggregate scores of democracy. This is critical because varied dimensions of democratic practice have specific effects on regime durability. The staggeringly low levels of participation in Mali throughout the 1990s and 2000s, for example, were intimately connected to the tepid public reaction to the military coup in 2012 despite the high level procedural functioning of democracy in the country (Bleck & Michelitch Reference Bleck and Michelitch2015).

The main goal of the volume is to assess the impact of one-party dominant systems on democracy, as compared with other types of party systems, such as pulverised party systems, or two-party systems. The authors focus on one-party dominant systems in comparison to other party systems because of their prevalence across sub-Saharan Africa, and to move beyond the limitations of two-party versus multiparty comparisons common for advanced industrial democracies. The volume employs Sartori's (Reference Sartori1976) categories of party systems, creating a useful bridge to other comparative analyses. Doorenspleet and Nijzink hypothesise that one-party dominance may provide some benefits for democratic development and deepening. One-party dominant systems may be good at governing, facilitate representation through the broad-based character of the party, foster political competition both within the party and with smaller parties of the opposition, and may be suitable for developing African democracies because they ‘seem to be better in preserving stability and promoting much needed socio-economic development’ (p. 14). This recalls an earlier literature of the one-party state and its developmental appeal for national unity (Zolberg Reference Zolberg1966).

Doorenspleet and Nijzink also offer the alternative hypothesis, that one-party dominance limits and constrains democracy. This is because two-party and multiparty systems are better at offering alternative preferences for policy and leadership, and the opposition can voice discontent, shine light on problems, and hold the government to account. Voters have the possibility to create alternation, and this fosters more accountability in the system as a whole among all contending parties.

This volume uses six case studies to test these competing visions. Three countries typify the dominant party systems (South Africa, Namibia and Botswana), and three countries demonstrate the diversity of other democratic party systems on the continent (Benin as a pulverised party system, Ghana as a two-party system and Zambia as a system ‘in flux’). The consequences of dominant party systems have received little investigation, and the case studies demonstrate that the unlikeliness of alternation decreases the quality of democracy in the longer term. While it can offer an initial positive effect, maintaining a party's dominance over time more likely contributes to silencing of majority voices, as in South Africa (Friedman, Chapter 3), internal factionalism, as in Botswana (Makgala and Giollabhui, Chapter 4), and increasingly authoritarian practices, as in Namibia (Melber, Chapter 5). This finding reminds us of the importance of the ‘bounded uncertainty’ inherent in Dahl's (Reference Dahl1971) definition of democracy.

While the procedural elements of democracy are at work in the one-party dominant cases, and opposition has the critical ability to operate openly, the lack of prospects for party change in the executive office and majority control of the legislature limits the strategic incentives for government to represent the voters' varied interests. The editors conclude that ‘the lack of party system competitiveness is diminishing government accountability and responsiveness’ (p. 173). They highlight that these parties may contain the seeds of their future demise, vulnerable to tensions that could ultimately threaten their survival (p. 183). The future evolution of these parties will contribute much to our understanding of the possibilities for internal institutional adaptation to generate external institutional durability, versus internal institutional stasis contributing to institutional demise.

The tensions inherent in one-party dominant democracies are most evident in their procedural aspects, as well as more substantive aspects such as socio-economic and political equality. In particular, they foster a culture of intolerance and hostility towards dissent. Yet the combined chapters also reinforce that the empirical reality that citizen satisfaction with democracy is in the eye of the beholder, and public perceptions of democratic practice and quality remain as high in the one-party dominant countries as in democracies with other types of party systems. Perhaps it is not surprising, given that these one-party democracies are continually upheld by the very fact that the majority of citizens vote overwhelmingly for the dominant party. Yet all three countries show signs of alienation between political elites and the electorate, with sporadic demonstrations of public discontent erupting over government performance. Participation and citizen voice is directed outside of the electoral arena to demand accountability, given the lack of viable alternatives through party competition.

An additional valuable contribution of this edited volume is Chapter 2 (Bogaards), which systematically tests the proposition that elections, regardless of their quality, contribute to democratisation over the long term (Lindberg Reference Lindberg2006). This thorough analysis provides a strong rebuttal of the prospects for democratisation through elections, and concludes that ‘most electoral autocracies do not only remain autocratic, but also become more autocratic over repeated elections. Most liberal democracies do not only stay free, but become freer over time. Electoral democracies, in contrast, appear vulnerable to regression and breakdown’ (p. 37). This empirical examination supports the comparative literature on authoritarian durability through political party and electoral strategies. The chapter reasserts the significance of founding elections as a mode of transition in Africa (p. 27). It also refocuses our attention on the quality of elections and the reform of political institutions.

In sum, the volume thus contributes not only to our understanding of African party systems’ consequences for democracy, but also offers important lessons to the relationship between historical party formation, ongoing institutional adaptation, and systemic durability and evolution. The authors tentatively endorse those who question whether party systems in Africa can be conceptualised in line with the comparative literature (pp. 4–5), and suggest that African party systems affect democracy in ways that are different from the relationship between party systems and democracy observed elsewhere. Here I believe the authors cut short their contribution, and the possibility of generating knowledge from African experiences that informs and advances theories of political parties and democracy in other parts of the world. The interesting and informative empirical accounts that this study offers present no signs of ‘African exceptionalism’. Rather, they nuance and expand our understanding of party systems and their differential consequences for multi-faceted democratic qualities more globally.