Abstract

REIS, Bruno Carriço; SILVA, Riga Anilsa Borges Da  and  SEMEDO, María Filomena Moreira. The Performance of Political Parties in Cape Verde: An Analysis of the 2016 Legislative Elections. Estud. Asia Áfr. [online]. 2023, vol.58, n.1, pp.5-33.  Epub Mar 27, 2023. ISSN 2448-654X.  https://doi.org/10.24201/eaa.v58i1.2786.

The article examines the party system in Cape Verde, officially a multiparty state that in practice has a two-party system. The aim is to understand the stabilization of two parties, the Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde and the Movimento para a Democracia, in the alternation of power even in the most recent legislative elections of 2016, the broadest party competition in the country’s political history. To this end, this discussion focuses on theoretical approaches to parties and party systems that allow us to understand this bipolarization. The analysis suggests that this practical effect makes a connection with the system of representation’s structure and also sheds light on political alignments at the parties’ origin.

Keywords : democracy; party system; elections; bipolarization; Cape Verde.