ABSTRACT
This chapter explains Mozambique's overinstitutionalized party system by advancing two arguments. First, the incumbent authoritarian party was able to control the transition agenda through mechanisms of elite cooptation and the strategic choice of institutional rules such as electoral systems and party laws. Closing the political space was crucial for the emergence of an overinstitutionalized party system that inhibits change. Second, this outcome is also explained by the connections between parties and citizens. The chapter provides a brief historical overview and traces the main political events from independence and war to the signature of the General Peace Agreement and the start of political liberalization. This is followed by an analysis of the mechanisms associated with the transition stage, the political institutions and the party–citizen linkages. The analysis draws on various data sources, from electoral and survey data through to semi-structured interviews conducted with political and social elites during fieldwork in 2012/3.
