摘要
This paper interrogates the issues of leadership and succession in Zimbabwe and how a political culture of institutionalized power have played in sustaining one man rule in Zimbabwe in both the ruling party and in opposition political parties. Robert Mugabe has been the leader of both Zimbabwe and his party, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front （ZANU PF）, for more than three decades. Morgan Tsvangirai has been at the helm of the Movement for Democratic Change （MDC） for the past 15 years. Calls for leadership change have divided the MDC and a splinter party MDC Renewal, has been formed as a protest to Tsvangirai＇s grip on power in the main opposition party. The purging of the voices of dissent in Zimbabwe＇s two main political parties resembles a revolution devouting its own children, or the case of a hen eating its own eggs. In ZANU PF, different factions are wrestling each other to succeed Mugabe but they have not been open about their struggles for power for fear of backlash from Mugabe. The main question is： Why is there a culture of one man rule in Zimbabwe？ How has the Zimbabwean political culture of neo-patrimonialism played a part in long term leadership in Zimbabwean political parties？ Is the one man leadership in the MDC an offshoot from the ZANU PF culture of one man rule？ What is the relationship between the civilian leadership and the military？ The main focus of this paper is on how Mugabe has entrenched an authoritarian system of rule through the manipulation of state structures and a political culture of intolerance, patronage and plunder of national resources.
