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Question 5
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Politics 324 Question 5Provide a broad assessment of the future prospects for liberal democracy and good
governance in Africa.
Bratton and Richard Houessou:
Africans express growing attachment to democracy according to citizen attitude
surveys conducted by the Afrobarometer in 34 countries. Seven out of ten Africans
prefer democracy to other political regimes, and the proportion of deeply committed
democrats (that is, those who also reject authoritarian alternatives) has risen steadily
over the past decade.
There is a major gap in many African countries between popular demand for
democracy and the supply of democracy actually delivered by ruling elites.
o While ordinary Africans clamour for high-quality elections and leadership
accountability, too many political leaders continue to manipulate the polls,
challenge term limits, and even seize power by coup.
o In the most common pattern across African countries, popular demand for
democracy exceeds the available supply, producing a deficit of democracy.
o The perceived level of democracy is low among citizens in North Africa,
where a surplus of authority prevails.
o In other countries across the sub-Saharan sub-continent – like Ghana in West
Africa, Mauritius in East Africa, and Zambia in Southern Africa – an
institutionalized form of electoral democracy is gradually taking root.
Key findings:
o A majority of Africans say they want democracy (71%) but, at the same time,
only a minority (46%) also rejects all alternative forms of autocratic rule.
o More than half of all survey respondents in 16 African countries now evince a
deep commitment to democratic rule: the composite index of demand for
democracy climbed 15 percentage points, from 36% in 2002 to 51% in 2012.
o But people don’t always think they are getting democracy. A composite index
of supply of democracy reveals that fewer than half (43%) consider their
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, country a democracy and, at the same time, say they are satisfied with the way
democracy works.
o Rightly or wrongly, people think that the consolidation of democracy, while
partial everywhere, is most advanced in East Africa and least advanced in
North Africa. Other regions fall in between, with democratic demand being
greatest in West Africa. Regimes in this region may be particularly susceptible
to mass mobilization from below as citizens exert pressure for more
democracy.
o People increasingly believe that the quality of elections is the best sign of a
democratic regime. Thus, popular attachment to institutions is slowly but
surely displacing mass loyalty to dominant personalities.
Although 71% support the idea of democracy, only 46% reject all forms of autocratic
rule (single-party rule, dictatorship and military rule).
49% of Africans said that they are satisfied with the way democracy works in their
own country.
53% of Africans perceived their country to be democratic.
African countries can be sorted into three main categories:
o Countries with a deficit of democracy – demand for democracy exceeds its
supply.
o Countries with a surplus of authority – in these places, mass demands are
relatively limited and people say they are satisfied with (whatever elites
choose to call) “democracy”.
o Countries with consolidated regimes – these countries reside on the
equilibrium line where demand exists in balance with supply.
Gyimah-Boadi:
What is causing democratic progress to falter on the continent, and what are the prospects for
democratic development in the future?
Four major positive democratic trends:
o Embrace of elections – the ballot box has replaced the military coup as the
chief instrument for changing governments and electing political leaders. The
holding of regularly scheduled and increasingly competitive elections has
become the norm in most of Africa.
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