Region: Africa | Page 2 | Journal of Democracy

October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4

Democratization in the Arab World?: The Decline of Pluralism in Mubarak’s Egypt

Jason Brownlee

Since a tenuous political opening a decade ago, the Mubarak regime has systematically asphyxiated democracy in Egypt.

October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4

Democratization in the Arab World?: Depoliticization in Morocco

Abdeslam M. Maghraoui

Since the 1950s, Morocco has engaged in reforms that have established a relatively open political and economic system, but democracy has not gained much in the bargain.

October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4

Zimbabwe’s Hijacked Election

John Makumbe

Realizing that power would slip from his grasp if he allowed an honest presidential election in 2002, longtime strongman Robert Mugabe resorted to antidemocratic tactics that set a new low in cruelty and dishonesty.

October 2002, Volume 13, Issue 4

Post-Coup Politics in the Gambia

Abdoulaye Saine

The Gambia provides a lesson in how authoritarians can hold votes yet rob their people of the power that the ballot box is supposed to give them.

July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3

Africa: The Limits of Power-Sharing

Ian S. Spears

Often recommended as a means of ending intractable civil wars, power-sharing may in fact be least likely to work when it is most needed.

July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3

Cape Verde: An African Exception

Peter Meyns

The small, Portuguese-speaking island republic of Cape Verde offers a suggestive case study of successful democratic consolidation.

April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2

Elections Without Democracy: Africa’s Range of Regimes

Nicolas van de Walle

Today, Africa south of the Sahara has a relatively small number of both democracies and full-blown dictatorships,along with a large number of hard-to-define regimes that fit neither category.

January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1

South Africa: Democracy Without the People?

Robert Mattes

A decade after the end of apartheid, South African democracy may be headed for trouble because the country has yet to fulfill the three requirements of democratic consolidation: inequality-reducing economic growth, stable institutions, and a supportive political culture.

January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1

Mozambique: A Fading UN Success Story

Jeremy M. Weinstein

The United Nations did superb work in helping Mozambique to end its long-festering civil war and start down the path to recovery, but those gains could slip away amid ominous conditions of partisan polarization, excessive political centralization, and a winner-takes-everything electoral system.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux

The Editors

The Editors’ introduction to “Francophone Africa in Flux.”

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Democratization in Fits and Starts

Christopher Fomunyoh

The 1990s began with an unprecedented democratic opening in Francophone Africa. While a number of countries have suffered setbacks and even reversals, others continue to make progress, and popular aspirations for democracy remain strong.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Political Turnover and Social Change in Senegal

Dennis Galvan

In 2000, Senegal experienced its first-ever electoral victory by an opposition candidate. Yet the social foundations that have supported one of Africa’s most liberal regimes are shifting, with unpredictable consequences.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Ethnicity and Political Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire

Jeanne Maddox Toungara

Following a military coup in 1999 and flawed and violence-ridden elections in 2000, democracy in Côte d’Ivoire faces an uphill battle against the forces of xenophobia and ethnic chauvinism.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Mali’s Decade of Democracy

Zeric Kay Smith

Since 1992, Mali has managed to preserve its democracy in the face of great odds. Continued vigilance will be needed, however, to prevent the gains of the past decade from slipping away.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Niger Gets Back on Track

After a failed democratic experiment in 1993-96 and two military coups, Niger successfully held free and fair elections in 1999. The next couple of years will be crucial to the long-term survival of democracy.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Mauritania’s Stalled Democratization

Boubacar N'Diaye

Contrary to the widespread perception that Mauritania has moved toward democracy, this troubled country faces continued ethnic tensions and the prospect of increasing repression.

July 2001, Volume 12, Issue 3

Women and Democracy: The New Political Activism in Africa

Aili Mari Tripp

Though the proportion of women in political office remains lower in Africa than in most other regions, African women exhibited new political energy and made unprecedented progress during the past decade.

April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2

A Peaceful Turnover in Ghana

E. Gyimah-Boadi

With longtime ruler Jerry Rawlings obeying constitutional term limits, the opposition won a narrow electoral victory, bringing Ghana its first peaceful transfer of power since independence.

January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1

Monarchy and Political Reform in Morocco

Abdeslam M. Maghraoui

Morocco’s new king, Mohamed VI, has two alternatives: He can invent a new “ruling bargain,” prolonging his father’s authoritarian rule in a new guise, or he can spearhead serious political reforms.

January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1

How People View Democracy: Africans’ Surprising Universalism

Although Africa is a latecomer to democratization, Africans overwhelmingly support democracy, and their conception of democracy is surprisingly liberal.

January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1

Fighting Authoritarianism in Zimbabwe

Masipula Sithole

The stunning defeat of a draft constitution backed by President Robert Mugabe and the opposition’s unexpectedly strong showing in the June 2000 parliamentary elections may have marked the beginning of the end of ruling-party hegemony in Zimbabwe.

July 2000, Volume 11, Issue 3

Promoting Democracy: The Mandela-Mbeki Doctrine

Chris Landsberg

The promotion of democracy in Africa has become the dominant theme of South Africa’s foreign policy. Yet the dilemmas this policy has confronted in practice have forced the government to alter its approach.

April 2000, Volume 11, Issue 2

Pushing for Press Freedom in Liberia

Suah S. Deddeh

Since its establishment in 1964, the Press Union of Liberia has championed the right of journalists to report freely on events in Liberia and abroad. Political setbacks continue to put it to the test.

October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4

South Africa: Entering the Post-Mandela Era

Steven Friedman

Post-apartheid South Africa’s democratic quest resembles a good thriller–just as the plot seems clear, a twist appears in the tale.

October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4

Top-Down Democratization in Tanzania

Göran Hydén

October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4

Monitoring Nigeria’s Elections

Clement Nwankwo

July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3

A New Jurisprudence for Africa

H. Kwasi Prempeh

April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2

The Mauritius Enigma

William F.S. Miles

April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2

Conducting Cambodia’s Elections

April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2

Regime Change in Africa

Joel D. Barkan

Review of Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective, by Michael Bratton and Nicolas Van de Walle

January 1999, Volume 10, Issue 1