My research interests relate to comparative democratisation, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1990, the number of African countries with de jure multi-party elections has increased twelvefold. Yet almost nothing is known about African parties. My research therefore asks: what African parties seek to achieve and why these objectives are chosen; why parties differ in their propensity for fragmentation; why parties vary in the quality of their internal democracy; and why opposition electorates are often acutely volatile.