Perceptions of regime legitimacy in Mozambique legitimacy in transition?

Abstract

The growth and development of democratic regimes across the globe has been of particular interest to political scientists over the last several decades. The question of what is an appropriate and relevant regime depends on various aspects of peopleâ s political ideals. Mozambique is one such nation wherein democratic developments have been recent and somewhat successful. This thesis focuses firstly on the views and political ideals of rural dwellers, and secondly on generational differences in political ideals and views on regime legitimacy at the local level. It suggests youth and the elders have different views concerning how they should be ruled and what constitutes a legitimate political regime. At the local level, there are manifestations of the central democratic regime and the historically traditional regime. Rural youth consider the democratic regime to be legitimate and the traditional regime to be incompatible with their ideals. In their opinion, the existing traditional regime is outdated and irrelevant. Older adults in rural areas, in contrast to the youth, are aware of the duality in regime-types at the local level, but believe there is a place in the community for both to exist. In the opinion of the adults, both regimes are compatible with their ideals and are thus legitimate. If these two significant segments of Mozambican society â rural youth and rural elders - hold strongly opposing views concerning what constitutes a legitimate regime, this would hold important implications for regime legitimacy in Mozambique.