Clinging to Power-The Initiation, Reproduction and Maintenance of Neopatrimonial Rule in Zimbabwe

Abstract: As is common in African states, the former liberation movement, ZANU (PF) still retains power in Zimbabwe. This essay analyses how Robert Mugabe and his party has managed to remain in power despite an economic and political crisis. Central to the study is the concept of neopatrimonialism which is argued to have been institutionalised in Zimbabwe much due to the nature of the liberation struggle, here discussed as a critical juncture. Using an historical institutionalist understanding of path dependency, this study traces the origins and subsequent reproduction of neopatrimonialism in Zimbabwe. Such an institutional system has been maintained and reproduced since independence using different mechanisms of institutional reproduction. Initially the continuation of the system can be explained by general theories regarding power and ligitimation. However, as events unfold in Zimbabwe, and forces threaten the existence and further practice of neopatrimonialism, the mechanisms that account for its reproduction have been altered, changed and reinforced by expanding neopatrimonialism itself and finding new ways in which to legitimise it.