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Democracy and Africa
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Before European contact and subsequent colonialism, Africans practiced some variants of democracy alongside authoritarian rule. However, European colonialism undermined the traditional participatory democratic system for almost one hundred years, only to revive it on the eve of decolonization in the form of a parliamentary system.10 Similarly, the West undermined both the indigenous and postcolonial democratic efforts in order to contain Soviet influence during the Cold War. Since the end of the Cold War, the emergence of a unipolar world and the beginning of the era of globalization, there is a renewed emphasis on democracy and democratization. It is quite auspicious to ask: what does the West desire for Africa? Democracy! What type of democracy and for whose benefit?
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The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) promotes sustainable democracy by building democratic institutions, educating citizens, and advocating social justice. The website offers publications, an events calendar, and information on IDASA's programs.
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Before dealing with the issue of whether, in theory and practice, democracy existed in precolonial Africa, it is quite appropriate here to attempt to correlate the origins and meanings of the Western notion of democracy. Ancient Greece (Athens in particular) is widely regarded as the birthplace of Western democracy and political thought, and the word democracy was coined from the Greek words demos, “the people,” and kratia, “to rule.” In theory, this was rule by the people for the people as opposed to rule by one (autocracy) or a few (oligarchy), a form of direct democracy in which all citizens could speak and vote in assembly. In practice, Athenian democracy did not extend equality and franchise to all persons and therefore allowed direct participation only by male citizens, a small political elite, to the exclusion of the majority of the populace consisting of women, slaves, and foreign residents. Greek democracy did not really encompass most of the key elements of modern democracy—equality of all persons before the law and franchise for all. Thus, in reality, direct participation in government by the privileged few constituted the thrust of Athenian democracy. Limited as Athenian democracy was, the West still draws inspirations from it.
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At the end of 1994, Ghana's young democracy seemed intact and on course. Although the electoral processes of the Fourth Republic were riddled with controversy and even some violence, the prospects for multiparty democracy appeared bright. This was true despite the opposition boycott of the parliamentary elections, leading to a virtual one-party state in practice. The NDC government had so far demonstrated a willingness to abide by the strictures of the 1992 constitution; the legislature appeared unrestricted in its deliberations, which were open to public scrutiny and opposition criticism despite the absence of a formal parliamentary opposition; and the judiciary had established its independence, unfettered by executive interference in its decisions, a majority of which had gone against the government.
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Democracy in Africa is often a sham and, tragically, Kenyans are paying for their election with their lives. Yet would they prefer to forget about regular polls and revert to straightforward despotism? The violence is appalling but many more died during the authoritarian rule of Mr Kibaki's predecessor, Daniel arap Moi.
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The Southern Africa Research and Development Centre (SARDC) serves as a regional information resource center in the field of environment and water resources, gender, democracy and governance, regional economic development, and human development. The website features information on the programs, activities, and publications of the SARDC.
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