Making Political Parties Relevant in the Democratization Process in Tanzania

Abstract

This article posits that it is absurd to suggest that political parties are no longer indispensable to modern democracies. It starts by rebutting the four main propositions that support the assertion that political parties are no longer indispensable for the consolidation and sustenance of democracy. The article proposes that rather than being irrelevant to the democratization process, political parties in countries undergoing a political transition face specific challenges. Taking Tanzanian political parties as a case in point, the article outlines the challenges facing political parties to include the need to play an effective role in the oversight of the electoral process; providing space for vulnerable groups to participate in politics; incorporating civil society organizations in the democratization process; ensuring a free media; institutionalizing good governance and making themselves relevant by ensuring that the substantive dimensions of democracy are as important as its procedural ones.