This article sets out to identify factors that determine popular support for multi-party democracy among the Tanzanian citizens. Using the 1999 survey data, the findings from this study have demonstrated that citizens ' assessment of the functioning of multi-party system in relation to peace and stability in the country. That is, support for multi-party system is mainly determined by how politically informed a person is, as well as how satisfied a person is with the presence of civic peace and social harmony even amidst pluralist democracy. In addition, social-background factors especially education and gender have proved to be important elements in generating popular support for multi-party system. What is even more revealing is the finding that citizens can still prefer a multi-party system even if their economic living standards have not improved to an expected level, Yet, the significance influence of the individuals ' party loyalty upon the extent of support for multi-party system seems to pose serious challenges to democratic consolidation.
