Africa's Electoral Systems and Their Impact on Promoting Democratic Governance and Development

Abstract

This chapter analyses democratic electoral systems and their impact on advancing democratic governance and development in Africa. This includes the dynamics and rationale for choosing a particular electoral system over the other(s) and the results of such decisions to the electoral and representative democracy. The electoral systems famous in political science are proportional representation (PR) and constituency based, as well as the mixed electoral system. In this chapter, various electoral systems have been deliberated on in the context of electoral democracy and its democratization process. Thus, considering the denial and exclusion of the majority to full citizenship and democratic governance during the colonial and apartheid regimes. The chapter uses country-based case studies to demonstrate the importance of the electoral democratic system in fostering democratic good governance and development in Africa.