Real name:
Biography:
Dr. Ainara Mancebo (South Africa) holds a PhD and an MSc in Political Science and Public Administration from the UNED University (Spain); a BA in Journalism from the University of Ramon Llull (Spain); and a BA (Hons) in Contemporary History from the University of Salamanca (Spain). Ainara works as an independent scholar and public affairs consultant from South Africa. Her current research portfolio addresses the challenges of democratization and democratic consolidation. Her work focuses on party behavior engaged in the process of institutional change, legislative institutions, and electoral reforms. Her research has been published in indexed publications such as PS:Political Science & Politics; Journal of Legislative Studies; Politikon; Insight On Africa, etc.
Current research areas:
Her current research portfolio addresses the challenges of democratic consolidation, state-building, and the sustainability of party competition. Her work focuses on party behaviour engaged in the process of institutional design and the legislative capacity to influence the executive.
Recent scholarly activity:
Research on populism and parliamentary opposition parties about the impact of populism on emergent democracies focuses on what populists do, instead of what populists say. An analysis that considers the actual behaviour of populist parties in the legislative institutions. Addressing the question of whether the populist parties behave differently from other political parties in opposition at parliament:
(2023) The Loop ECPR's Political Science Blog: "South Africa’s populist EFF stirs up parliamentary affairs" https://theloop.ecpr.eu/south-africas-populist-eff-stirs-up-parliamentar...
(2023) 94th SPSA Annual Conference Southern America: "The role of legislatures to address the challenges of representation and legitimation in emergent democracies with a case study of South Africa”, Florida-US.
(2022) Webinar 28 Feb 2022. What makes democracy rise, fall and persist. Presentation in Webinar on the Cusp of Coups and Democracy in Africa organised by Emerging Scholars Research Committee of South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS).
(2022) Webinar 22 November 2022. Electoral reform in South Africa. Presentation in Webinar on Reflecting on Electoral Politics in Africa organised by department of Political Science, UNISA.
Recent publications:
(2023) Mancebo, Ainara. "Populism and parliamentary opposition parties: The Economic Freedom Fighters Party Behaviour in the South African Parliament". The Journal of Legislative Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2023.2247757
(2021) Mancebo, Ainara. "South African Opposition Party Behaviour Under the National State of Disaster to Respond to the Covid-19 Pandemic". Politikon. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2021.1917205
(2020) Mancebo, Ainara. "Stability and Governability the Benign Effects of Party Dominance in South Africa". Insight on Africa, Vol 13: 56-75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0975087820965172
Forthcoming research:
Research about the capacity of the legislatures to hold the government to account. In the midst of a variety political crisis and constant decline of electoral turnout, the effectiveness of legislatures to constrain governments depends more often on the centrality of parliament in the political system.