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Towards the One-Party State in Zimbabwe: a Study in African Political Thought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Extract

Zimbabwe today is the site of a surprisingly vigorous debate over the one-party state. Some students of Africa might find the issue stale and the conclusion foregone, but Zimbabweans do not look at their political future that way. The first task of this article is to present the arguments of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) in favour of one-party rule and the rebuttals this has provoked. Documenting this debate is worthwhile given various popular misconceptions about Zimbabwean political life; in addition, doing so sheds light on the character of political thinking in Africa. The arguments are also important enough and of sufficient interest to be assessed philosophically, and this is my second task. Since Z.A.N.U.(P.F.) officially embraces a Marxist ideology, I shall, in particular, scrutinise its case for one-party rule from within its own political-theoretical framework. I contend that Marxist theory does not dictate such a system of government, and that viewed from this perspective the arguments for it are flawed and the party's faith in it is problematic.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

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Page 376 note 1 For instance, Nkomo shared a platform with the Minister for Home Affairs, Enos Nkala, in Matabeleland on 26 March 1986. Two weeks later, however, at the funeral of Lookout Masuku, the leader of Z.A.P.U. lashed out harshly at the Government.

Page 376 note 2 The Herald, 18 January 1982; but cf.Robert G. Mugabe, ‘Interview’ with Donald Telford of the London Observer, in ibid. 21 March 1984.

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Page 387 note 1 Richard L. Sklar has suggested to me that Amícar Cabral's doctrine may be an exception.

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Page 389 note 1 Cf. Chirawu, loc. cit.

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