Do Parties Hold Politicians Accountable (and for What)? Evidence from South African Local Government Elections

In this paper, we examine the extent to which political parties in a strong-party system hold individual politicians to account. Specifically, we consider the determinants of incumbent renominations and promotions in the context of South African local government elections. We find strong evidence that parties are very responsive to the subjective views of citizens regarding the quality of services and quality of government more generally, particularly in electorally competitive areas. By contrast, objective" measures of performance, including levels of basic service delivery, do not predict renominations. We discuss how these findings raise important questions for how we think about party responsiveness and accountability in developing country contexts.