Why do Ruling Parties lose? Taking Stock of the United National Independence Party in Zambia

Abstract

In the last two decades in Africa, democratic elections occasioned the replacement of some military as well as single-party regimes. Taking Zambia as a case, the question addressed in this article is why the democratic transition caused the defeat of Zambia ' s United National Independence Party (UNIP). The main argument held is that when the ruling party and the state are fused, the party enjoys hyper incumbency advantage thereby increases its chance of victory. Based on data from documents and interviews, the study found that the fusion between Zambia ' s former ruling party and the state was relatively weak, leading to its defeat. This was mainly owing to elite factionalism and the personalisation of the party by President Kenneth Kaunda.