The New Politics of Participation in Tropical Africa

Abstract

Africa appears to be the midst of a participation explosion. Since 1978, four countries-Upper Volta, Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria-have returned to civilian rule by electoral means. Niger is currently contemplating a similar transition. A number of states, notably Kenya and Somalia, have held elections which key political personnel were changed through the ballot box.' In the fall of 1980, the Ivory Coast held the first competitive elections since independence. A few heretofore staunch single-party regimes have publicly considered prolonging bans on opposition politics. Senegal formally opted for a three-party system 1976, and multiparty elections were held the spring of 1978. More recently, Liberia entertained the possibility of permitting the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL) to register as a political party.2 When the activities of this new party were curtailed, the military intervened to overthrow the True Wing leadership, which had held sway that country for over 100 years. In the past year, four governments were ousted (in Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic), no small measure as a result of strong civilian resistance to the dictatorial and nonrepresentative regimes of Idi Amin, Francisco Macias Nguema, Felix Malloum, and Jean-Bedel Bokassa. And finally, Zimbabwe the final withdrawal of colonial rule was effected through the ballot box. In short, to the untrained eye, the picture of African politics as nonparticipatory and closed to popular involvement is currently undergoing a significant change. Is it, however, correct to assume that political participation was absent the past decade and a half? Must one agree with Nelson Kasfir's generalization that in most cases post-independence Africa.. . the elimination of participatory structures has been so thorough? In what ways do current participatory politics differ from past endeavors? Is this participation more effective? For whom and why? The answers to these questions require a more systematic reappraisal of the nature of political participation black Africa. The purpose of this article is to look more closely at the units, bases, struc-