Tanzania: The authoritarian landslide

Abstract

Tanzania's ruling party has long employed authoritarian methods to stay in power, but the 2020 election was a turning point. The party apparently manipulated the results at scale amid a program of oppression. This constitutes a change in Tanzania's authoritarian regime from one which permits minimal electoral competition to one which does not. This election is a revelatory event that sheds light on the ruling party's strategy of power and Tanzania's possible futures. It seems intended to break the opposition's spirit through an act of domination. It symbolizes the restoration of single-party rule and Tanzania's reincorporation into a set of post-liberation regimes.