Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa Discussion
Democracy remains to be a goal that many countries in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa continue to pursue but remains to be out of their reach. Democracy in Africa is hindered by various factors, mainly ingrained in leadership approaches, that affect the capacity of the nations to enjoy the type of democracy evident in the western countries. (Ake, 1993) in his case study mentioned that democracy in Africa is hindered by the effect of revolutionary liberalization after independence, poor economic structure, and the distorted social-cultural realities. Democracy generally refers to a form of government where it is the people who exercise the authority of the government; hence they take part in the decision-making process that affects the way the community is run and developed. This response paper will analyze the various perspective that various scholars have held regarding democratization of the Sub-Saharan states in Africa and the progress that the nations have made so far since the 20th century.
The core argument in the this week’s reading and discussion is the idea that many African countries are still struggling to grasp a real sense of democracy and this is affected by the precolonial attitude towards governing and the shift to the democracy in the western attitude. Nwosu (2012) argued that the main problem in the African approach to democracy is the fact that it is based on the western attitude of democracy. Africa is unique content, and that cannot be driven with the same forces that determine the western politics, and this is because Africa as a continent is still young in its political system. Therefore, enforcing foreign approach neglects the poor leadership systems in many African countries. Nwosu (2012) argued that the emphasis on formalistic components of democracy has allowed most former dictatorships in Africa to adjust democracy to their convenience which leads to certain broad patterns in political succession that fall short of what democracy entails. On the contrary, a study performed by (Haang’andu & Béland, 2019) showed that contemporary democracy cannot exist without traditional African leadership. The study used a case approach to develop empirical trends of how democracy in Africa has changed over time. The research nonetheless concluded that in embracing the western-centric approach, progressive African ideational norms should not be neglected.
The corrupt electoral system has resulted in states that have less competitive regular elections. According to van de Walle 2013), many African nations are governed by hybrid regimes where there is a combination of democratic institutions and authoritarian practices based on facade democracies. This system then encourages electoral authoritarianism where the leading party deny other parties at having a chance at governing the nation. van de Walle (2013) hence performed a close analysis of the electoral systems in Africa and how they continue to hinder the establishment of democratic countries in Africa. The article forms a significant part of reading material necessary in understanding the nature of party competition in Africa and how it relates to the quality of democracy. The argument is supported by the article by Logan (2009), who also argued from the perspective that democracy in Africa has been hindered by a traditional authority which was more of authoritarianism as well. Logan (2009) supports this argument by data collected from the Afrobarometer that indicate the hybrid regime still governs Africans. It is this that creates a close relationship between elected and selected leadership in Africa.
However, different states have been taking varying steps towards democratization, and these may also be playing a significant role in hindering democracy in Africa. Cheeseman et al. (2018) performed a comparative analysis of the countries in East Africa and how some have advanced in achieving democracy over others. Cheeseman et al. (2018) concluded that countries like Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda are high conflict regions, while Kenya and Tanzania are low conflict regions and thus the latter have made great progress towards democratic consolidation. Regardless, a significant portion of the African nations is continuously striving to attain democracy.