This thesis explores the delegitimation concept in an electoral authoritarian context by studying how religious institutions seek to delegitimise the autocratic tendencies of the government. The thesis conducts a case study of the main religious institutions in Zambia, where the response to the authoritarian practices by the government is analysed and reviewed through a qualitative textual analysis. Newspaper articles and written statements by the churches are the central material for the study. The results of the analysis show that during the period of 2016-2020, the main religious institutions have been highly critical of the actions by the government and openly criticised them through public progressive statements as well as rejected to join activities that were hosted or organised by the government. However, the results also show that the response has been divided among the otherwise unified religious actors, where some churches have been less bold in their criticism and rejection of the government. While still regarded as a strong response to authoritarian practices, this split in response does denote that the main religious institutions’ efforts to delegitimise the government is in some sense weakened.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-431755 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Mattsson, Anna |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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