Atlas / Organisations / SWAPO
SWAPO
1960– · Namibia · Liberation Party · Electoral party · coding confidence medium
Each axis runs from −10 to +10, with zero a genuine mixed or balanced position rather than an absence of opinion. A score describes a stated position and a governing record; it is not a judgement of merit. What each score means →
Core principles
A liberation movement that has governed since independence within a constitution it has not amended to entrench itself.
Economic model
Mining and fishing exports, land reform by willing-seller purchase, among the highest measured inequality in the world.
Organisation of powers
Multi-party elections with a dominant party, an independent judiciary, and presidential term limits observed.
Reading note
Coded lower on authority than most liberation parties in the dataset because term limits have been respected and courts have ruled against the government.
Check a claim about SWAPO. The interactive atlas measures the distance between any two organisations across all six axes and shows which ones carry the disagreement.
Open in the atlasThe evidence for every score
All six cells are sourced. A rationale explains what the score is measuring and each artefact is something a third party can check without taking anyone's word for it.
EC · Economic organisation · scored −02
Coded −2: redistribution constrained by a willing-seller land regime.
- Comparative datasetLand reform proceeds by purchase rather than expropriation; measured inequality remains among the highest in the world.
CU · Social and cultural order · scored +03
Coded +3: socially conservative with an assertive judiciary.
- Documented act or statuteThe supreme court recognised foreign same-sex marriages in 2023 and parliament moved to reverse it.
AU · Organisation of power · scored +03
Coded +3: dominant-party rule inside observed constitutional limits.
- Documented act or statutePresidential term limits have been observed at every transition since independence.
- Documented act or statuteThe supreme court has ruled against the government including on same-sex marriage recognition in 2023.
SC · Scale of decision · scored +04
Coded +4: a unitary state with regional councils.
- Documented act or statuteRegional councils have limited competences and central funding.
ID · Rule of membership · scored +03
Coded +3: non-racial in the constitution with liberation-movement patronage.
- Documented act or statuteThe constitution prohibits racial discrimination and entrenches a bill of rights.
CH · Method and tempo · scored −03
Coded −3: an armed liberation struggle concluded by UN-supervised elections.
- Documented act or statuteIndependence followed the 1989 UN-supervised election under Resolution 435.
Nearest organisations by measured distance
Straight-line separation across all six axes, out of a maximum of 49.0. Proximity means similarity of stated position, not endorsement and not resemblance in outcome.
- Thaksinite Populism1.7
- PDI-P2.8
- Morena4.5
- PASTEF4.7
- Indonesian Coalition Politics5.1
- Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance5.2
Countries
Cite this page
Scores are revised on evidence, so a citation should carry the version it refers to. Version 4.3.1 is current; the revision log records every change.
Free to quote and reproduce with attribution. This is a synthesis rather than a peer-reviewed dataset — where an authoritative figure is needed, cite the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, the Manifesto Project or V-Dem.