A defence of liberal democracy for Africa

Abstract

The article counters criticism of liberal democracy in Africa, and proposes that liberal democracy is the best way to address Africa's political and economic problems. It contends that recent democratisation efforts have failed due to the conceptual confusion between majoritarianism and constitutional democracy, where only the latter can ensure freedom and security on the continent. The article goes on to argue for the primacy of individual rights over collective or group rights as the latter increase government control over people's lives. Despotic leaders often misuse group rights and repress the groups that empowered them. Finally, the article rejects as empirically and morally false the view that economic development should be a precondition for democratisation, and that African culture is in some way inimical to liberal democracy.