African Traditional Deliberative and Agonistic Democracy: A Maravi Perspective

Abstract

This essay traces elements of democracy in the history of African political thought, mainly in the Maravi Kingdom which once spanned the regions of present-day Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Based on the study of Maravi history, language, and some published philosophical reflections on democracy, elements of both deliberative and agonistic democracy are demonstrably present in these traditions. These elements include consensus-building, democratic legitimisation of leaders (such as kings) and the capacity to tame agonism in the community. While some of the main studies on African traditional theory of democracy build on an exotic and exceptional conception of African culture as communitarian, this paper argues for using the model of moderate communitarianism as representative of African societies through the ages. On this view the understanding is that indigenous African political cultures accommodate both communitarian and individualistic elements independently of Western influences. It is the accommodation of these cultural elements as indigenous to Africa that allows democracy to flourish in various African settings.