Democracy and Political Development in Africa

Abstract

The core argument of this chapter revolves around the quality of Africa’s democracy. Democracy is expected to breed good governance, and the socioeconomic and political development of nations. The logic is that democracy is driven by the involvement and active participation of citizens. After years of autocratic rule, Africa appears to have embraced a democratic revival, with an upsurge in the number of elections and the development of civilian regimes since the early 1990s. Democratic practices including regular multi-party elections, term limits and military subordination to civil rule have become prevalent in Africa. However, an eclectic appraisal of Africa’s political development since the 1990s reveals that the progress of democracy in Africa has been sloppy and haphazard, giving birth to different kinds of outcomes such as “full democracy” in a very few states, “flawed democracy” in some, and “hybrid regimes” and even “authoritarian regimes” in others.