July 2002, Volume 13, Issue 3
Cape Verde: An African Exception
The small, Portuguese-speaking island republic of Cape Verde offers a suggestive case study of successful democratic consolidation.
Region: Africa
April 2002, Volume 13, Issue 2
Elections Without Democracy: Africa’s Range of Regimes
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?
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
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: Democratization in Fits and Starts
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
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 Cote d’Ivoire
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4
Monitoring Nigeria’s Elections
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
A New Jurisprudence for Africa
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
The Mauritius Enigma
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
Conducting Cambodia’s Elections
April 1999, Volume 10, Issue 2
Regime Change in Africa
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
Nigeria: An End to the Permanent Transition
October 1998, Volume 9, Issue 4
Is Ethiopia Democratic? Introduction
October 1998, Volume 9, Issue 4
Is Ethiopia Democratic? A Political Success Story
October 1998, Volume 9, Issue 4
Is Ethiopia Democratic? Oldspeak vs. Newspeak
October 1998, Volume 9, Issue 4
Is Ethiopia Democratic? A Bureaucratic Authoritarian Regime
October 1998, Volume 9, Issue 4
South Africa’s Emerging Dominant-Party Regime
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
Second Elections in Africa
The early 1990s saw a wave of competitive multiparty elections in Africa. These contests can be described as "founding" elections in the sense that they marked for various countries a transition from an extended period of authoritarian rule to fledgling democratic government. By the middle of the 1990s, this wave had crested. Although founding elections…
October 1995, Volume 6, Issue 4
The Indispensable Man
Review of Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (1994).
Electoral Systems and Democracy
This book compares the experiences of diverse countries, from Latin America to southern Africa, from Uruguay, Japan, and Taiwan to Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Democratization in Africa: Progress and Retreat
At a time when democracy seems to be in retreat in many parts of the world, Africa presents a more mixed picture. Democratization in Africa: Progress and Retreat brings into focus the complex landscape of African politics by pairing broad analytical surveys with country-specific case studies.