Democratic Performance in Africa: Uneven Progress, Faltering Hopes

Abstract

The debate about democratic performance in Africa, as with elsewhere in the world, remains an unsettled one. The received wisdom and orthodoxy is that democratic politics tends to produce political systems that are “stable, wealthier, fairer, more innovative and better at respecting rights than available alternatives” (Gilley, 2009: 114; Halperin et al., 2005). In other words, democratic governance is perhaps the best form of political rule, consistent with Francis Fukuyama’s (1992) “end of history” thesis. However, the nature of global democratic performance, in recent times, suggests that such conclusions may be rather hasty and farfetched—more of a liberal political dogma and ideology than an evidence-based political reality. In many parts of the world, democratic discontent is growing, with increasing discourse about “democratic recession,” “democratic decline,” “democratic rollback,” or “democratic default,” with some even questioning the desirability and feasibility of the liberal democratic project in spite of its apparent global triumphalism. Claude Ake (2000: 7) notes that “Africa is by no means the only part of the World where the prospect of democracy is in question. It is in question everywhere for democracy is in crisis all over the World.” Larry Diamond (2008), on his part, argues that the celebration of democracy’s triumphalism is rather premature, as many parts of the world slip into what he refers to as “democratic rollback.”