AU WATCH

Democracy News

Articles on African democracy

Competitive elections are good for democracy – just not every democracy

Jessica Gottlieb, Texas A&M University and Katrina Kosec, Johns Hopkins University

Elections are supposed to hold politicians accountable: Officials who fear losing their seat will work harder for voters. But in some countries, political competition actually makes government worse.

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Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis threatens national unity. The time for change is now

Phyllis Taoua, University of Arizona

Some human rights activists worry that Cameroon could be the site of Africa’s next civil war.
South Africa is learning the ropes of coalition politics – and its inherent instability

Richard Calland, University of Cape Town and Mike Law, University of Cape Town

South African parties are recognising that coalition politics is now part of the political landscape and is here to stay.
After coup, will Zimbabwe see democracy or dictatorship?

Steven Feldstein, Boise State University

Mugabe and his powerful wife have been overthrown in an apparent coup orchestrated by Zimbabwe’s vice president. Will the country transition into democracy or get strapped with yet another dictator?
Why South Africans should be worried by ANC talk of a ‘colour revolution’

Jane Duncan, University of Johannesburg

South Africa’s governing party is invoking concepts and emulating strategies first developed by authoritarian regimes in Eurasia.
Trump’s leadership traits are bad news for democrats in Africa

John J Stremlau, University of the Witwatersrand

Besides worries that Donald Trump might not make Africa a priority of his presidency, his temperament and views bode ill for democracy on the continent.
Burundi and Rwanda: a rivalry that lies at the heart of Great Lakes crises

André Guichaoua, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

The competition between the two authoritarian regimes has become a fact that, given the regional context, is here to last. It justifies repression and indefinitely postpones democratic expression.
How Africa’s 1990s ‘poster boys’ use security fears to roll back democracy

Keith Somerville, University of Kent

Africa’s democratic promise of the 1990s has lost its shine. Hopes for accountable rule have faded in Uganda, Eth
Press freedom violations undermine African Union’s vision of transparency

Glenda Daniels, University of the Witwatersrand

Press freedom has changed little in the past decade. If the African Union is to commit to the principles of democracy, it needs to do more to uphold freedom of expression and protects its journalists.
South Africans take stock as the country celebrates Freedom Day

Dirk Kotze, University of South Africa

South Africa’s transition to democracy was based on the values of inclusive politics, reconciliation, human rights and constitutionalism. Twenty-two years on, how has the country fared?
Why African scientists must be champions for democracy

Shehu AbdusSalam, Shahid Beheshti University

African mathematicians and scientists have an important role to play in establishing and protecting a democratic continent.
South Africans are demanding more of their leaders, and democracy

Boniface Dulani, University of Cape Town and Rorisang Lekalake, University of Cape Town

South Africans’ faith in the post-apartheid system of democracy is clearly slipping – and some even suggest that a return to apartheid would be a good thing.
Buhari’s cabinet: solid choices, but too few women and too elitist

Gbenga Oduntan, University of Kent

No-one imagined that it would take Muhammadu Buhari more than 100 days to form a cabinet. But, then again, Nigeria is no ordinary country and it has its own inherent logic
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