The book applies a historical perspective covering the principal political institutions of Malawi, such as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, as well as electoral administration, political parties and local government. Other themes include civil society, the mass media, public policy making and international relations.

 

Prior to the workshop the various authors had submitted drafts.  To complement the expertise of the project-affiliated researchers, additional authors were brought on board to cover important aspects of politics in Malawi. With competent facilitation by Wendy Belcher of UCLA altogether 14 chapters were presented for discussion and critique. All authors read each others' contributions and offered constructive comments.  The co-editors of the textbook are Senior Lecturer Nandini Patel and Professor Lars Svåsand. The textbook is expected to be published in 2006.

 

The textbook project stems from a research project on Political Institutions and Processes in the Context of the 2004 General Elections in Malawi conducted jointly by researchers from four institutions - the Centre for Social Research and the Dept. of Political and Administrative Studies, both at the University of Malawi, and the Chr. Michelsen Institute and the Dept. of Comparative Politics, University of Bergen.