'A family of the state': bureaucratic impediments to democratic reform in Mozambique

University of the Witwatersrand History Workshop Conference Democracy: Popular Precedents, Popular Practice and Popular Culture 13-15 July 1994.Mozambique is preparing for its first multi-party election since gaining independence in 1975. A national electoral census will take place from 1 June to I5 August 1994, with the election scheduled for 27-28 October 1994. Prospects for a "free and fair" election are encouraging. While it is true that democracy cannot take root without an open electoral process, it cannot nourish on that alone. Elections represent an important point of popular engagement with government. Indeed, that the election in South Africa was deemed to be "free and fair" is no small achievement. What matters is what follows the election; in the case of South Africa, the quality of the democracy that takes shape as a consequence of the election. And here, as in the case of Angola, there are many potential obstacles in the path towards the development of a government which genuinely reflects the popular will. One of these is the state bureacracy. Differing perspectives on this are discussed. The Mozambique case is particularly bad