"As one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa, in 1991 Zambia experienced a peaceful transition to multiparty rule. The new government, Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), also committed itself to implementing an economic reform programme. The international donor community in turn generously rewarded, the new government's commitment to both political and economic change." Focusing on the negotiations between government and the key domestic interest groups, as well as the dialogues between the MMD government and the international donor community, the book argues that despite a disastrous socio-economic record, the processes of political and economic liberalisation proceeded concomitantly without seriously affecting or undermining each other. Contrary to expectations linked both to the political and economic reform processes, executive dominance increased in Zambia in the 1990s. Stressing continuity rather than change, the analysis of Zambia's reform processes suggests that the practices of patronage politics associated with authoritarian regimes are compatible with processes of political and economic liberalisation.