Beyond Impunity : New Directions for Governance in Malawi / edited by R. Ross and Lorraine Chiweza.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ross, Kenneth R., editor.

Chiweza, Asiyati, editor.

Mulwafu, Wapulumuka Oliver, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Malawi.

Democracy.

Elections--Malawi.

Elections.

Malawi--Politics and government--1994-.

Malawi.

Malawi--Politics and government.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (398 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Mzuzu, Malawi : Mzuni Press, [2022]

Summary:

This comprehensive, compelling, accessible and timely volume should be compulsory reading to academics, policy makers, social activists, and the general public in Malawi and elsewhere on the continent. The accounts the authors present of the pervasive dysfunctions of Malawi's troubled experiment with multiparty democracy since the mid-1990s, and the endlessly deferred dreams of development, are often dispiriting. Yet, their bleak diagnoses are often accompanied by ameliorative prescriptions that are simultaneously bold and pragmatic. The book exudes a sense of hope that the struggles for a better future will continue. In itself the book represents a testament to the possibilities of the country's democratic dispensation, the need to unflinchingly confront the country's debilitating political and socioeconomic pathologies. Such a text would have been unthinkable during the dictatorship of the founding president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright page

Title page

Acknowledgements

Contents

Notes on Contributors

Abbreviations

Foreword

Introduction: A Pivotal Moment for Governance in Malawi?

International Significance of Malawi's Constitutional Court Ruling

Enduring Issues of Concern

Genesis of the Book

Organisation of the Book

Significance of the Book

Conclusion

Chapter 1 - A Decade of Governance as "Roving Banditry" The Political Economy of Public Finance Mismanagement in Malawi, 2010 -2020

Introduction: Setting the Context

Analytical and Methodological Framework

Institutional Political Economy Analysis

State of Public Finance Mismanagement and its Developmental Cost

Illustrating the Development Cost of Public Finance Mismanagement

Public Finance Management Chain and Attendant Accountability Mechanisms

Revenue Collection

Allocation of Public Finances

Oversight for Expenditure of Public Funds

A PEA Explanation of Persistent Public Finance Mismanagement

Interests, Capture and Repurposing of the State

Appointive Bureaucracies and their Roles in Public Finance Mismanagement

Weak Social Accountability Mechanisms for Public Finance Management

Conclusion and Recommendations

Chapter 2 - Two Decades of Governance in Malawi: Examining Citizen Trust in Malawi from 1999-2019

Introduction

The Concept and Governance Consequences of Political Trust

Good Governance in Africa

A Brief Background to Governance in Malawi

General Trends of Trust in Presidents, Parliament, Police and Courts from 1999 to 2019

Possible Explanatory Factors

Consequences of (Loss of) Citizenry Trust: Implications on State Legitimacy and Prospects for Democracy

Chapter 3 - Trust in Election Management Bodies, Participation in Demonstrations and Willingness to Pay Taxes: Evidence from Malawi.

Introduction

Related Literature

Demonstrations during Malawi's Democratic Dispensation

Data and Variable Definitions

Estimation strategy

Empirical Findings

Discussion

Chapter 4 - Impunity versus Constitutional Legality in Malawi's 2019-20 Presidential Election Case

The Stand against Impunity and Mediocrity

The Conceptual Stand for Constitutional Legality

The Stand for Transformational Constitutional Legality

The Approach in the Proceedings

Expedition versus Attempts to End or Delay the Case

Conventional Burden and Standard of Proof versus Accountability

Self Interest v Duty-based Civic and Ethical Professionalism

Chapter 5 - Legal Responses to Electoral Violence and Democratic Governance in Malawi: The Case of the 2019 and 2020 Elections

Electoral Violence and Democratic Governance

Violence in the 2019 and 2020 Elections

Legal Responses to Election Violence 2019-2020

Legal Responses and Democratic Governance

Chapter 6 - Violence against Women in Elections in Malawi: The Role of Women Leaders as Game Changers

Violence against Women in Elections (VAWE)

Game-Changers

Survey of Incidents of Violence against Women in the 2019 Elections

Analysis of Responses of Women Leaders to VAWE in the 2019 Elections

Pre-election and During Election Violence Response

Women Leaders' Post-election Violence Response Analysis

Chapter 7 - Malawi's Choice of Electoral System and Reform Agenda Quandary

Literature Survey

Rationale for Electoral Choice in Malawi

Effects of Plurality Electoral System on Regime Legitimacy in Malawi

The Rationale for Electoral Reforms in Malawi

Drivers of Electoral Reforms in Malawi

Prospects for Electoral Reforms.

Conclusion

Chapter 8 - Awona Nyekhwe: The Fate of Opposition in Multiparty Malawi (1994-2020)

The Concept of Nyekhwe

Collective Political Memory

The Concept of "Opposition"

Opposition Parties and Politicians 1994-2020

Non-Party Actors

The Academic Freedom Debate

The DPP System, State Capture, and its Dislodgement

A Promising Nyekhwe-Free Future?

Chapter 9 - Guarding the Guardians: Auditing Security Sector Governance in Malawi

Overview of the National Security Policy

Auditing the Security Sector in Malawi

The Challenge of Policing Protests

Whither Professionalism of the Police

Loopholes in Migration Management Laws

Politicisation of the National Intelligence Services

The Question of Upholding Constitutional Order

The Challenges of Democratic Control of the Security Sector

Towards a Holistic Implementation of the NSP

Chapter 10 - Executive Supremacy and the Armed Forces: A Case Study of Public Finance Management in Malawi

Good Governance and Public Finance Management

Institutional Framework for Security Governance and Financial Oversight in the Armed Forces

The Historical Context of Public Finance Management in the Armed Forces

Chapter 11 - 50-50 Campaigns: Lessons from 10 Years of Promoting Gender Equality and Women's Representation in Parliament

The Theory of Women's Political Representation

The Legal and Policy Framework Guiding Women Representation in Malawi

Trends in Women's Political Representation and the Genesis of the 50-50 Campaign

Main Actors in the 50-50 Campaigns and their Strategies

Impact of Parity Funding Campaigns on Descriptive Representation of Women in Parliament in Malawi

Conclusion.

Chapter 12 - Ethnicity, Regionalism, and Nation-Building Challenges in Post-1994 Malawi: Whither a Federal State System?

Nation-building in Multi-Ethnic Societies

The Call for Federalism

The False Prospects of Federalism

Chapter 13 - Rights Without Responsibility: Governance Crisis in the Management of Natural Resources in Malawi

The Environmental Crisis as a Governance Issue

Governance Crisis in a Democratic Era

The Relevance of Historical Experience

Suggestions for Addressing the Crisis

Chapter 14 - Pandemics, Politics and Governance: Contestations over State Management of Covid-19 in Malawi

Pandemics and Governance in History

Covid-19 and Earlier Government Responses

Contesting Covid-19 Preventive Measures

Chapter 15 - Malawi's Governance Crisis in Theological Perspective: A Tale of Two Cultures

A 25-Year Retrospect

A Question of Political Culture

The Biblical Text

Global Theological Thinking

Local Contextual Theology

Malawi in Crisis 2019-20: Theological Perspectives

A Tale of Two Cultures

Bibliography

Index

Back cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789996076084

9996076083

OCLC:

1381711526