The political cost of AIDS in Africa provides comprehensive empirical evidence of the impact HIV/AIDS is having on politics and the electoral process.

This publication presents the results of the three principal, and complimentary, research projects: the findings of the pilot project in Zambia in 2003; the key findings of the South African study (2005); and the preliminary findings of the multi-country study of six African countries - Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana and Senegal. The study emphasises that HIV/AIDS is - beyond a health crisis - a pandemic that encompasses all spheres of life, with devastating implications for political legitimacy, stability and development in the new democracies in Africa today.

This overview provides an introduction to a study on The Political Cost of AIDS in Africa conducted by the South African democracy institute Idasa, and its research partners in different countries in Africa. It provides comprehensive empirical evidence of the impact HIV/AIDS is having on politics and the electoral process and demonstrates that the fledgling multi-party democracies in parts of the continent are being undermined by sickness, incapacity and premature deaths among elected leaders as well as within the electorate. The culmination of three years of exploratory research, the study...

Aids and Local Government in South Africa studies the impact of HIV/AIDS on the political system of 12 local municipalities in South Africa. This exploratory study by democracy institute Idasa investigates the epidemic's effect on accountability, effectiveness and legitimacy amongst directly elected councillors, against a back-drop of extreme dissatisfaction with local government performance by historically disadvantaged South Africans.