WHAP - CH 23 - African Independence & Democracy

What accounts for the ups and downs of political democracy in postcolonial Africa?

What accounts for the ups and downs of political democracy in postcolonial Africa?

• Some have argued that Africans lacked some crucial ingredient for democratic politics—an educated electorate, a middle class, or perhaps a thoroughly capitalist economy.

• Others have suggested that Africa’s traditional culture, based on communal rather than individualistic values and concerned to achieve consensus rather than majority rule, was not compatible with the competitiveness of party politics.

What accounts for the ups and downs of political democracy in postcolonial Africa?

• Some have argued that Western-style democracy was simply inadequate for the tasks of development confronting the new states.

• Creating national unity was more difficult when competing political parties identified primarily with particular ethnic or “tribal” groups.

What accounts for the ups and downs of political democracy in postcolonial Africa?

• The immense problems that inevitably accompany the early stages of economic development may be compounded by the heavy demands of a political system based on universal suffrage.

• Widespread economic disappointment weakened the popular support of many post-independence governments in Africa and discredited their initial democracies.