The African Democracy

This book provides the first comprehensive overview of Africa's history of democracy, grappling with important questions facing Africa today.

Democracy is an enigma in contemporary Africa. Although elements of democracy existed in African politics in the pre-colonial times, the European penetration and subsequent colonization provided the gateway for the prevalence of Western form of democracy with the practice of the parliamentary system. As each African state gained independence, beginning from the mid-twentieth century, political leaders mostly followed the Western democratic process. Africans now choose their leaders through electoral processes, but other pertinent factors make the full practice of democracy difficult. The purpose of Democracy in Africa is to assess the level of democratic practice and to identify and analyze the political changes and challenges facing African countries. Shortly after independence, many African nations experienced political turmoil through military intervention in politics, which directly suspended democratic process. The popular uprisings and crises in North Africa, mainly in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, bear testimony to the need for the implementation of democracy in these and other African countries. These events call for political leaders to adopt and respect democratic principles, concentrate on good governance, and promote political stability. Democracy in Africa is a novelty in its approach and depth of analysis. It adopts the Status of Democracy Index to measure the democratization process in selected African countries. The analyses in this book represent what operates elsewhere in Africa. This book is directed to the general public, undergraduate and graduate students of history, political science, and international studies. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin. "The idea that Africa's search for democratic governance is incomplete but alive is a truism for many Africanist scholars. This engaging book takes up that assertion and assesses it with examples from a range of African states. While the authors of the book employ a variety of theoretical approaches, they reach the same conclusion: the path of democratization in Africa must be "home-grown" and that outsiders can only help move the process forward. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the dilemmas of political development in Africa." -- Eric E. Otenyo, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff "Yet another apposite contribution to ongoing discussions and analyses of African politics, history, and society in the twenty-first century -- particularly in light of recent events in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Sudan. This book makes it resoundingly clear: African democracy and political participation have to be, and are indeed, homegrown. They have to be." -- 'BioDun J. Ogundayo, University of Pittsburgh, Bradford "Democracy in Africa: Political Changes and Challenges offers an insightful and interdisciplinary approach to the development and failure of democratic institutions in a breadth of African countries not found in any other scholarly work. By examining the struggle to establish -- and in some cases reestablish -- the political infrastructures and ideologies in large and small African states with different colonial, religious, and ethnic histories, this collection should be mandatory reading for anyone with an interest in the past, present, and future of African politics." -- Steven J. Salm, Xavier University of Louisiana

Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africa’s diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africa’s multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continent’s long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.

The concepts of democracy and good governance have been at the centre of criticism of governments all over the world. What democracy entails, however, has never been agreed, most notably on the African continent. African politicians who have been criticised for reigning over 'undemocratic' regimes have insisted that the West judges them by criteria that don't apply to African circumstances. Is there such a thing as African democracy? Informed and intrigued by two events that happened in different eras, in different countries, Gardner Thompson has written an in-depth historical examination of the nature of 'imported' democracy as practised in the East African countries of Uganda, where he worked as a young History teacher in the 70s, Kenya and Tanzania. The events were the 1971 Amin capture of power from Milton Obote in Uganda, and the post-election violence that rocked Kenya in 2007/2008, pitting then incumbent Mwai Kibaki against his erstwhile colleague Raila Odinga, along what many read to be tribal lines. Dividing the book into three sections, Thompson treats democracy in the three former colonies from the perspectives of pre-independence (colonialism), the transition to independence, and governance since independence. Reflecting indigenous history, the colonial past and evolving culture, flawed but functioning forms of government have emerged in the three states.

A team of scholars examine the radical political changes that have taken place since 1990 in eleven key countries in Africa. Radical changes have taken place in Africa since 1990. What are the realities of these changes? What significant differences have emerged between African countries? What is the future for democracy in the continent? The editors have chosen eleven key countries to provide enlightening comparisons and contrasts to stimulate discussion among students. They have brought together a team of scholars who are actively working in the changing Africa of today.Each chapter is structured around a framing event which defines the experience of democratisation. The editors have provided an overview of the turning points in African politics. They engage with debates on how to study andevaluate democracy in Africa, such as the limits of elections. They identify four major themes with which to examine similarities and divergences as well as to explain change and continuity in what happened in the past. Abdul Raufu Mustapha is University Lecturer in African Politics at Queen Elizabeth House and Kirk-Greene Fellow at St Antony's College, University of Oxford; Lindsay Whitfield is a Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of International Studies, Copenhagen.

Publisher Description

This book explores the process by which constitutions and democratic institutions are constructed. Wing focuses on how innovative constitutional dialogues involving participation, negotiation, and recognition of groups previously excluded from political decision-making may be the key to a legitimate constitution.

Offers new research on the vital importance of institutions, such as presidential term-limits in the African democratisation processes.