Democracy, Elections, and Constitutionalism in Africa

Abstract

The 1990 wave of democratization and constitutional reforms in most African countries seems to have signalled a strong commitment to the idea that competitive multiparty elections are the only legitimate basis for democratic governance. This trend was reinforced by the African Union’s adoption of a range of measures to promote democracy, good governance, constitutionalism, and the rule of law. The most important of these is the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), which came into force in 2012. Save for Eritrea and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and a few countries engulfed in conflict, such as Libya and South Sudan, multiparty elections have become the norm among African states. However, after a brief period of free and fair elections during which numerous countries saw peaceful alternations of power, the quality of elections declined, entering what has been characterized as a mild but protracted recession. Many recent elections have degenerated into little more than exercises in competitive authoritarianism. The full potential for democracy and constitutionalism in Africa is thus yet to be realized. This chapter highlights key issues that have arisen in the struggle to institutionalize an ethos of democratic governance, examining the link between democracy, elections, and constitutionalism, then identifying the main strides taken in promoting democratic governance, as well the main challenges impeding those strides. Although support for democracy is growing, there is no room for complacency: the continent’s transition to democracy remains at serious risk of degenerating into a mere exercise in attempting to contain a ‘zombie’ democracy.