ABSTRACT
In Western Europe there is now a widely held view that the golden age of mass party politics is over. The study of party politics in new democracies must be alert to the role of international factors including international party support. And any critical assessment of international party support must take account of globalisation rather than view party politics or party support in isolation. The institutionalisation of organisations at the regional and global levels in addition to more localised and national initiatives for the promotion and protection of democracy around the world is a distinctive feature of the current age. Globalisation's reach varies from one society to another, and within individual countries too its impact tends to be uneven. The colonial impact in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century could be said to have introduced Africa to aspects of globalisation and impacted on their society, politics and culture long before the word gained its current popularity.
