Constitutional Democracy In Africa The Return Of Africa To Constitutional Democracy

This five-volume work received a Special Commendation in the 2005 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The Jury cited the work as: "A magisterial and authoritative treatment of all aspects of constitutional democracy in Africa. The author cares very deeply about democracy thriving in Africa, but never weakens his objectivity in assessing its history or prospects. It places the author securely as one of Africa's great scholars."

This five-volume work received a Special Commendation in the 2005 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The Jury cited the work as: "A magisterial and authoritative treatment of all aspects of constitutional democracy in Africa. The author cares very deeply about democracy thriving in Africa, but never weakens his objectivity in assessing its history or prospects. It places the author securely as one of Africa's great scholars."

This five-volume work received a Special Commendation in the 2005 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The Jury cited the work as: "A magisterial and authoritative treatment of all aspects of constitutional democracy in Africa. The author cares very deeply about democracy thriving in Africa, but never weakens his objectivity in assessing its history or prospects. It places the author securely as one of Africa's great scholars."

This five-volume work received a Special Commendation in the 2005 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The Jury cited the work as: "A magisterial and authoritative treatment of all aspects of constitutional democracy in Africa. The author cares very deeply about democracy thriving in Africa, but never weakens his objectivity in assessing its history or prospects. It places the author securely as one of Africa's great scholars."

The third wave of democracy that reached African shores at the end of the Cold War brought with it a dramatic decline from 1990 onwards in dictatorships, military regimes, one-party governments, and presidents for life. Multiparty democracy was at the core of the constitutional revolutions that swept through most of Africa in those watershed years. However, that wave is either losing momentum or receding - or being reversed in its entirety. This volume examines democracy and elections in Africa, a focus motivated by two concerns. First, after 30 years it is important to take stock of the state of constitutional democracy on the continent. The democratic gains of the 1990s and 2000s seem to be falling by the wayside, with the evidence mounting that regimes are concealing authoritarianism under the veneer of elections, doing so in an international context where populist regimes are on the rise and free and fair multiparty elections are consequently no longer a given. It is becoming a battle to protect and retain constitutional democracy. The second reason for this volume's focus on democracy and elections is that multiparty democracy is essential for the proper functioning of the state in addressing the major problems facing Africa - internal conflict, inequality and lack of development, and poor governance and corruption. The focus of this volume is thus on how competitive politics or multiparty democracy can be realized and how, through competition, such politics could lead to better policy and practice outcomes.

Analyses the evolution and major features of Nigeria's political system.

This collection of essays assesses the efforts of African governments to constitutionalise decentralisation, be it in the form of federalism, local government or traditional authorities. Since the end of the Cold War jurisdictions across Africa have witnessed an ostensible return to multi-party democracy within the paradigm of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Linked to the democratisation process, many countries took steps to decentralize power by departing from the heavily centralized systems inherited from colonial regimes. The centralization of power, typically characterized by the personalization and concentration of power in the hands of leaders and privileged elites in capital cities, mostly resulted in repressive regimes and fragile states. As decentralisation is a response to these challenges, this volume analyses the dynamic relationship between the efforts to implement decentralization and presence or absence of constitutionalism. This volume examines a variety of forms and degrees of decentralization found across Africa. It advances a new understanding of trends and patterns and facilitates the exchange of ideas among African governments and scholars about the critical role that decentralisation may play in democratization of and constitutionalism in Africa.

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, grade: 85.0, University of Ghana, Legon, language: English, abstract: This paper presents a brief overview of experiences of multipartyism and constitutional democracy in Africa. It also examines how multipartyism and constitutional rule has failed to address the post-independence governance crisis in Africa. The main position advanced by this paper is that, while constitutional governance and multipartyism have been widely but reluctantly accepted by many African leaders, they have failed to build and allow democratic institutions to work in Africa. Since independence, African countries have been confronted with myriads of costly political, economic and security crises, with many deleterious effects on the region’s progress. At independence, most if not all African leaders committed themselves to the path of democracy and good governance but would soon shy away from it. The constitutions of most of the emerging states were therefore, sooner than later, subjected to numerous amendments carried out in a manner that undermined the essence of constitutional rule and principles of multiparty democratic governance. What would follow is emergence of both civilian and military authoritarian regimes and concomitant governance, development and human rights crises (Ibid). However, demise of the Cold War and concomitant collapse of the Communist Block in 1989 would return the euphoria for democracy and departure from authoritarianism (both military and civilian) by many African countries. The early 1990s saw an adoption or a return of multiparty democracy in several African countries and promulgation of new constitutions to help consolidate the new systems of government. The so-called third wave of democratization brought to bear, great pressure on African authoritarian leaders (mostly military regimes) to adopt freer multiparty democratic political systems - an era Lucian Pye (1990), referred to as “the global crisis of authoritarianism”. The continent witnessed, more than ever, agitation for comprehensive constitutional reforms and good governance during this era.