A realignment of economic interests in Zimbabwe is fueling broad-based demands for an open, democratic, multiparty society. The shift in alignment comes as a result of the ruling party’s failure to meet the needs and expectations of the majority of Zimbabweans in the eleven years since independence. Under the leadership of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), headed by President Robert Mugabe, the government adopted socialism guided by Marxist-Leninist principles as its ideological philosophy. The socialist agenda, coupled with cumbersome, centralized decision-making by a bloated bureaucracy, discouraged domestic and foreign investment and stymied employment growth.