TSUBURA Machiko
Previous research
My research interests are in the areas of democracy, electoral and party politics, and governance in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on Tanzania. In my PhD thesis (2014), I examined the shifting nature of accountability and clientelism in dominant party politics in Tanzania through an analysis of the 2009 introduction of a Constituency Development Fund, a mechanism that channels a specific portion of the government budget to the constituencies of members of parliament in order to finance local development projects.
Current research projects
My current research themes are as follows: 1) presidential candidate selection and management of factionalism in the dominant ruling parties in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania, from a comparative perspective; 2) the influence of Ujamaa (Swahili for “familyhood”), a socialist ideology, on contemporary Tanzanian politics by applying the political settlement approach; and 3) the constitutional review process and party politics in Tanzania.