Multiparty Democracy, Social Cohesion, and Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

This paper proposes some assumptions regarding the complex relationship between multiparty democracy, social cohesion, and human development in Sub-Saharan Africa. A conceptual framework was used to map out this relationship. We assumed that because multiparty democracy is relatively new in Africa and increasingly challenging for most countries, its relationship with human development may neither be proximal, nor positive. With respect to social cohesion, we assumed that a socially cohesive society is more likely than a non-cohesive one to promote human development. Further, we assumed that although multiparty democracy is susceptible to exerting a negative or weak effect on human development, the relationship may be mitigated by the level of social cohesion. The immediate implication of this assumption is that multiparty democracy is likely to improve the well-being of the populations of sub-Saharan Africa if the degree of social cohesion is relatively high. The proffered assumptions may be of great interest for practitioners and researchers in human development studies and other relevant fields.