Political Culture and Power Sharing In Zanzibar: The Case Of The 2010 General Elections

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of political culture on power sharing in Zanzibar. The study focused on the 2010 General Elections which saw a Government of National Unity that collapsed with the 2015 General Elections. Specifically, the study focused on: (i) assessing the electorate‟s perception of sharing political power in key political institutions (cabinet, parliament, electoral body, policy agenda) in Zanzibar (ii) assessing the electorate‟s  political values in accommodating the sharing of key political institutions in Zanzibar (iii) examining the nature of institutional set-up towards accommodating a mixed cabinet, parliament and electoral body in Zanzibar, and; (iv) assessing the contribution of political culture elements towards power sharing in the key political institutions in Zanzibar. Three theories, namely social-cultural viability, cultural congruence and institutional coherence guided the study to establish the place of political culture in sustaining power sharing. A cross-sectional research design through the survey method was adopted. A sample frame based on a voter‟s register was used to select 200 respondents through systematic random sampling. Purposive sampling technique was used to select key informants from each Shehia and those who served in the Government of National Unity. Purposive sampling was also used to select focus group discussion participants. Secondary data were collected from different sources including political party offices. SPSS version 20 was used to analyse primary data. Content analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data. The overall findings show that the perception of sharing political power was favourable among the respondents, implying propensity to power-sharing arrangements. The Mann-Whitney U test indicated that the perception of sharing political power was the same between different groups. Further results from the Logistic Regression indicated a number of factors influencing power sharing: sex, political values of accommodation, political tolerance, place of birth and political affiliation. The findings also indicated that institutional arrangements were insufficient to accommodate power sharing. The study concludes that despite preference for power sharing, the electorate fell short of political values necessary to sustain power sharing arrangements. The study recommends, among others, meaningful dialogue and further institutional reforms to establish a framework for peace and political accommodation.