Democracy.

Defining Democracy
1. Rule by the people.
2. Idea of popular sovereignty- where individuals participate in their
societys government.
3. Direct Democracy- Ancient Greece. Western WorldRepresentative Democracy.
4. Entrusted political representatives to govern- must remain
accountable to the governed. Usually through elections.
5. Freedom of speech, laws for free competition to win votes.
Association and assembly- important citizens can collectively select
representatives of their choice.
6. Multi party democracy- accepted mechanism in the west. Govt
for the people by the people.
7. Liberal democracy- largely rejected in Africa in the first 3
decades of independence.
8. Continents political leaders considered pluralism as destructive.
9. Favoured unified and centralized mechanisms of govt.
10. Multiple parties would deepen divisions- deflect attention from
nation building and economic development.
Explaining the Emergence.
1. Simply put- Africas turn to democracy in the 1990s was done so
due to an agreement among all players.
2. State elites who were for so long committed to authoritarian
forms converted to pluralism.
3. Civil society expanded its campaign for the same goal.
4. Also the international community backed these political trends.
5. Why were all 3 in agreement?
6. 4 interlinked phenomenaa. o Loss of state authority.
b. o A new international political environment.
c. o Rejuvenation of civil society.
d. o Economy.
Loss of State Authority.
1. 1990s, Africas political environment was ripe for change.
2. State institutions were challenged starved of resources- due to
crisis of accumulation, lacking legitimacy due to crisis of governance.
State authority was in decline.
3. Old governing formula- presidential monarchs could combine a
mixture of accommodation and coercion was no longer effective.

4. Elements of civil society were in a process of disengagement-

violently rebelling against the elite in some cases.

5. Total state collapse was a looming reality.
6. Several ruling elites- chose to ignore the crisis. States became
more inverted= govts abandoning their public obligations.
7. On their way to becoming war lord states- Liberia, DRC. Cases in
point.
8. Faced by anti govt protests- only thing presidential monarchs
could do was to utter pious, self-serving calls to discipline and order.
9. Previously the state would have had the resources to crush such
protests but now they had few replies.
10. Powers of coercion were dominated abilities of co-option were
starved by a lack of resources.
11. Previous state strategies were no longer enough to ensure
regime could endure. New tactics were needed.
12. Re-invention of multi-party democracy- therefore as a reaction to
crisis of authority.
13. State elites considered the dissolution of their monopoly over
political activey to be the only survival strategy left.
14. Not that they had been converted to pluralism- a lot had it forced
upon them.
15. It was a case of leaders weighing up the costs of delaying the
reforms against short term benefits that could be gained.
16. Control the pace of reform- remain in power.
17. Few expected the reforms to take as they did. EG. National party
decided to engage the African national congress of south Africa few
members would have envisaged full multi-party democracy arriving in
5 years.
18. Gambles undertaken to ensure survival.
19. Paid off in a lot of cases- many got to hold onto power. TANU eg
in Tanzania.
20. Search for legitimacy by state elites- major cause.
International political arena was changing.
1. External pressures existed calling for reform.
2. State elites relied on external patronage to prop up regimes1990s- source had dried up.
3. Change in emphasis in how foreign govts and international
financial intuitions gave aid to Africa came with the end of the cold war.
4. State managers previously had been able to market their
countries in terms of ideological allegiance and strategic importance.
5. US supported its allies in Africa- investment against spread of
communism. Kenya, morocco, Zaire.
1

6. SU- Ethiopia and Angola.

7. Focusing on their own issues- werent concerned about the
nature of govts.
8. Collapse SU- implications- for African state elites.
9. Soviet clients had no external patron to turn to.
10.
Allies of the US received less unconditional support- as
strategic interests diminished.
11.
Aid became conditional.
12. Economics- aid recipients were required to undertake SAP.
13. These reforms provided the catalyst for embryonic prodemocracy movements.
14. Political conditions were also attached to aid packages.
15. Assistance would be suspended or resumed as a direct
consequence of a regimes human rights record and commitment to
democracy reforms.
16. EG. Aid to Kenya- suspended in 1991- president Moi- halted
transition to pluralism.
17. Banda in Malawisame pressure in 199318. Reliance and dependence on international actors and their aidtransition to democracy had to happen.
A rejuvenated civil society
1. Significant pressure- came from within.
2. Churches, trade unions, ethnic associations, womens
organizations, farmers, community groups and political parties- key
role in the fight against colonial rule.
3. Same organizations- contribute to the second liberation of the
80s and 90s.
4. Decline of state authority- vacuum for opposition- took their
chance to challenge state elite.
5. Faade of govt- crumbling.
6. Transition process- initiated by the reaction of SAPs.
7. Thousands of urban Africans took to the streets.
8. Bread riots- feature of post colonial period.
9. State was less able to suppress them.
10.
Became more political over time- Zairian protesters egopenly chanting- mobutu thief!.
11.
Leading institutions of civil society = took on the
organization of this popular protest.
12.
New groups formed to campaign for multi-party
democracy.
13. - Older groups started to delink themselves from the ruling elite.
14. - Politicians- sensing a change in the political mood- entered the
battle.

15. - Came out of exile and retirement. joined opposition. Or back

to the ruling party.

16. - Churches as mosques- significant force- anti-authoritarian
campaign.
17. - Offered national opportunities for people to assemble.
18. - Archbishop desmond tutu- black opposition parties outlawed in
SA- became one for the most effective advocates against apartheid.
nationally and internationally.
19. - Malawi- archbishop James Chiona- challenged Hastings Banda
after decades. In 1992.
20. - Trade unions- major impact.
21. - Niger for eg. USTN largest labour federation- pressure on
ruling elite to concede.
22. - Late 1980s- was at the heart of the opposition movement. Coordinated strikes and protests.
23. - Action brought Nigers formal economy to a standstill- multi
party elections followed in 1993.
24. - Zambia- best example of TU activity.
25. - Frederick Chiluba- leaders of Zambian Congress of TUs- long
been an annoyance to UNIPs one party state.
26. - Govt tried to co-opt ZCTU without success. Chiluba was put in
prison- release he rejected a place on unips central committee- opt in
1990 to challenge the political monopoly- zctu ideal organizational
base for the movement for multi-party democracy.
27. - Mmd defeated unip in 1991.
28. - Mass discontent was channelled through organizations like thispolitical demand amongst the people was a major cause.
Economic Reasons for Democracy.
African Debt Crisis.
Colonial legacy
1. - Imperial inheritance- left Africa disadvantaged in the modern
international economy.
2. - Colonial years- development limited- primary sector. Lack of
infrastructure.
3. - Level of economic growth was low.
4. - Reaching independence- Africa was highly specialized in export
economies. Small manufacturing base, lack of technology and
populations with poor educated/ skilled.
5. - Europe left Africa under developed.
6. - Major structural problems unequal exchange- international
economy.

7. - Colonial rule- left African states with highly specialized

monocrop economies. Producing one or 2/3 commodities for export.

8. - Rwanda eg- coffee. Malawi- tea and tobacco.
9. - No other source of economic activity to generate additional
income.
10. - No substitute- bad harvests.
11. - totally dependent on Europe- export their goods. Little demand
for monocrops on the continent.
12. - Western buyers- considerable advantage/
13. - Closed markets- depress prices.
14.
Debt Crisis.
15.
try and break their countries dependence- upon
independence- developmental plans. Build up what they could from the
colonial legacy.
16.
import substitution- common.
17.
- invested heavily in infrastructure- roads- human
resources.
18.
Needed capital- borrowed money. West.
19.
Backfired as a strategy- 1990s- crippled by debts.
20.
20 years by 1994 sub Saharan African debts- 15-90% of
GNP/
21.
Huge debilitating effect on local economies.
22.
1973 and end of 70s- OPEC oil crises- affected the whole
world. But pushed Africa to the brink of collapse.
23. - Petrodollars- loans- made things even worse.
24. - Zambia- example hardest hit.
25. - Decolonization 1964- economy was prosperous/
26. - First 8 years gnp grew steadily/
27. - Govt invested in human resources,, built the welfare up in the
state.
28. - Education and health increased.
29. - 1973- Zambia as a fuel importer- hit by opec rises.
30. - Compounded by the fall in price of copper on the international
market.
31. - No alternative- Zambia had to get loans from the west.
32. - Debt spiralled upwards.
33.
All led to SAP.
34. - Ifis world bank and imf introduced SAPS to help out.
35. - Conditional lending.
36. - Changes to economic policy for more loans.
37. - Liberalize their economies- opening them to international and
domestic private capital/ reduce role of state in driving the economy.
38. - No choice really but to go along with what they said.
39. - By mid 1990s almost all African countries had taken on SAPs.

40. - Widespread repercussions across the continent.

41. - Knock on effects social, economic and political processes.
42. - Economically: some countries experience modest

improvements- tailored made plans. Some economic stability others

continued to decline.
43. - Debts were decreased. But no developmental strategy was put
in place.
44. - Social impact: very apparent. Zambia eg- unemployment- cuts
in public services.
45. - 8,500 textile industry workers lost jobs- liberalization.
46. - Govt spending had to be curtailed- Zimbabwe halved budget
deficit- 1989-1995.
47. - Public services had to be hit.
48. - Medical staff and drug spending was cut.
49. - Education was cut= fees for secondary schools introduced.
50. - Great disadvantages.
51. - Removal of state food subsides- urban poor- relied on for
survival.
Has democracy fixed problems?
No: Led to more corruption.
there exists a reality of contradictory trends across the continent and that while
Africa certainly has changed, from an era where one-party states were the norm to
an era where democratic regimes are more common, some countries still allude to
certain setbacks.
Regular multi-party elections but democratic rollback and hybrid
regimes
1. In Kenya, the transfer of power from Daniel arap Moi and the Kenya
African National Union (KANU) to Mwai Kibaki and the National Rainbow
Coalition (NaRC) in December 2002 was widely (and understandably)
regarded as a significant step forward.
2. However, optimism quickly dissipated,49 and the closely contested
and hotly disputed election of 2007 prompted a post-election crisis that led to
the deaths of over 1000 people and displacement of almost 700,000 in just
two months.
3. Unfortunately, current signs (as outlined in Nic Cheesemans
contribution to this collection51) suggest that democratic roll-back remains a
local reality.
4. Unfortunately, the optimism that surrounded successful elections in
other contexts also often quickly dissipated as, for example, Frederick Chiluba
(who ousted Zambias Kenneth Kaunda in 1991) gained a reputation for
corruption,and Abdoulaye Wade (who ousted Senegals Abdou Diouf in 2000)
became a veritable caricature of Senghorism.
5

5. In addition to these particular examples, Freedom House ratings which

provided the basis for Lindbergs optimistic conclusions have subsequently
suggested that there has been a move towards democratic reversal..

Corruption
1. Recent scholarly literature is divided on the extent to which political
liberalization has prompted the strengthening of formal institutions other
than the presidency.
2. Daniel Posner and Tom Young have a relatively optimistic view and
argue that, Across sub-Saharan Africa, formal institutional rules are coming
to matter much more than they used to, and have displaced violence as the
primary source of constraints on the executive behaviour.
3. However, while this may be- the fact is corruption has gained more
opportunities to take place since the introduction of more parties into the
system
Strengthened neopatrimonial systems.

1. Crawford and Lynch Also found that Democracy has led to economic
development, however it has been in the favour of the rich.
2. Unfortunately, Africas economic performance especially when cast in
terms of human development rather than economic growth has been even
less impressive, with a troubling tendency for pro-rich growth.

3. In this vein, Lewis highlights that many of Africas new democracies

have significantly improved their growth rates, and have generally achieved
greater economic growth than non-democracies, yet such growth has not
been accompanied by rising incomes or popular welfare, leading to a crucial
paradox... of growth without prosperity