African accountability: What works and what doesn’t?,

Abstract

African accountability: What works and what doesn't?, a book edited by Steven Gruzd and Yarik Turianskyi, is a story about the struggle for democracy in Africa. It tells the story not so much through the lives of heroic individuals and decisive events, as through institutions. And institutions, by their nature, are rather dry. Nonetheless, the book is important, because it is precisely the weakness of institutions that has been the great failure of democracy, accountability and good governance in Africa. Understanding their strengths and weakness is crucial to understanding the successes and failures of democracy and accountability.