Party Constitutionalisation and Constitutionalism in Africa

• Applicant: Dr. Johannes Socher
• Subject Area: Public Law
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 533972722

The project aims to deepen the understanding of political party constitutionalisation in Africa and its impact on the prospects of constitutionalism on the continent. The project’s findings will be published as an edited book in collaboration with Professor Charles Fombad of the University of Pretoria, with whom I have started collaborating and who would act as co-editor and host for the fellowship. The envisaged book will consist of three parts: Part I (which I will draft) will outline international standards and analyse global trends in political party constitutionalisation (PPC); Part II (which Professor Fombad will draft) will provide the general context of PPC in Africa; and Part III will offer a broad set of case studies from across the continent on PPC and its impact on constitutionalism. For the case studies, scholars working on constitutional developments in Africa will be invited to contribute. For that purpose, author guidelines will be developed and shared with invited scholars, outlining an analytical framework on the constitutionalisation of political parties and posing some overarching questions that should be addressed when analysing the resulting challenges for constitutionalism in the respective countries, namely: what impact does the (limited) party constitutionalisation have on the quality and competitiveness of elections? If a dominant party system exists, to what extent are they able to capture and control state resources? How are opposition parties, their members and supporters protected? What are the wider implications of these aspects for the state of democracy in the respective country? Funding for the proposed project through the Walter Benjamin fellowship programme would provide me the resources to relocate to South Africa and to pursue my research interests and ambitions full-time. As a Walter Benjamin fellow, I could focus on the realisation of the research project, which would be a key component for establishing myself as an expert in comparative constitutional law in Africa as one of only very few scholars from the Global North working in this field.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: South Africa
• Host: Professor Dr. Charles Manga Fombad