University of Michigan professor of political science, Anne Pitcher, has won the Dudley Seers Memorial Prize for best article in The Journal of Development Studies for 2017. The article is “Party System Competition and Private Sector Development in Africa”, The Journal of Development Studies, vol. 53, no. 1 (2017): 1-17.

Professor Pitcher studies the comparative politics of developing countries, especially those in Africa. Her research has explored the political economy of colonialism in Lusophone Africa; the creation of credible commitments to economic reform and the politics of private sector development across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Find the abstract below:

Democratic transitions by many African countries have generated much analysis of the organisational features of political parties or their role in voter mobilisation during elections. Yet, scholars have largely overlooked how parties negotiate economic policymaking or interact with the private sector in countries that are incipient democracies and emerging markets. This article argues that the stability or fragmentation of the party system affects patterns of private sector development and shapes linkages between the state, business and labour. It compares Mozambique and Zambia to demonstrate how variations in party system characteristics influence the relationship between economic and political interests.