ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the evolution and consolidation of four major political parties: Malawi Congress Party, United Democratic Front, Democratic Progressive Party and the People’s Party. It examines the various political settlements that these political parties negotiated and the impact of such settlements on economic and political development in the country. The poor showing of most political parties in the 1961 elections notwithstanding, Malawi attained independence as a multiparty democratic state in 1963. The record of Malawian political parties as primary agents in building up a viable democratic dispensation in the country is not very inspiring. Providing a universally accepted definition of political parties is a futile exercise, as parties must be understood within a given context, specific ideology and specific cultural settings. Political parties have by and large been used to promote personal or sectional interests at the expense of a collective national good.
