Political Party Manifestos Essay

Introduction

Political party manifestos are a common feature in most liberal democracies all over the world. Manifestos are a vehicle through which parties sell their policies and ideologies to the wider electoral community. The content of the electoral manifestos reflects how political parties plan to address issues of national concern (Chunga 2014, p.10). In countries with strong democracies and high literacy levels, manifestos are a crucial component in wooing voter support for parties and candidates. Since the dawn of multiparty democracy in Malawi in 1993, political party manifestos have become a key feature when parties and candidates campaign for political office. However, irrespective of the fact that Political parties in Malawi have manifestos during campaigns, parties generally focus more on personal attack of rivals other than articulation of policy issues during political rallies. In his study on Malawi, Mpesi (2011, p. 26) observes that a survey of literature shows that parties exhibit ideological deficiency and parties advance the same issues. He further argues that ‘’this results into electoral competition which is not issue based.’’ In the wake of the foregoing, one is compelled to ask; do political party

The analysis will focus on issues of taxation, economics, education, corruption, health, governance and agriculture in order to determine if at all there are marked differences in terms of policy direction and whether that influences voter choices. A questionnaire will be developed and will ask questions that will seek to establish the determinants of people’s choices during elections. The study will also look at Afrobarometer survey reports and other relevant