Conceptualizing Democracy and Democratization

Abstract

The first part of this chapter attempts to briefly take stock of how contemporary democratic theories have made sense of the phenomenon and notion of democracy. Based on this notion, and to the extent that is relevant to the study, this part defines what is meant by “democracy.” Since the ultimate aim of the study is not to expound at great length the theoretical underpinning of democracy, the approach taken to theories of democracy is cursory and only aimed at defining democracy for the purposes of this study while depicting the bigger picture within which the study is situated. The second part of the section describes the process of democratization, especially what has come to be known as the third wave of democratization. On top of describing and defining the different phases of democratization, it proposes how one could measure the level of democratization and how to measure progress, regression, or the lack of both. The chapter ends with a note on what have come to be regarded as “African” theories of democracy.