The State of African Politics : A Setback for Democracy

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                                              The State of African Politics; A Setback for Democracy

Natalie Cecini

        Cross Cultural Perspectives, SOC 315

        The State of African Politics; A Setback for Democracy

        Prof. Shaun Sullivan

        March 1, 2009

 


Although it has been a long and hard road, the path to democracy is obtainable by suffering African nations.  Progress is being made slowly, but there are some missing pieces that need to be resolved in order to make democracy work for the people.  Overcoming a long history of violence and military rule is the challenge that confronts many nations, as for so long it was the only way to be heard and counted.  The practice of democracy in African nations has been a shaky experiment where although many of the necessary motions are in place, the underlying theme is corruption.  The true power that should be in the hands of voters is still being fought for by coups, which gain support as the people become unsatisfied with the choices for candidacy and the democracies that reek of state failure.  In many African nations, politics still seem to revolve around ethnicity rather than on other common grounds.    Creating an infrastructure to spread relevant information that will allow open discussions between the people and their government and between people of different backgrounds and allow them to reap the benefits of democracy and will put government officials in a position of accountability.    Fortunately, the kinks are slowly being worked out, as women are increasingly becoming political participants, successful elections are taking place, a system for training future leaders is being established, and the power is being distributed more evenly.    

        The history of war, violence and military rule are obstacles that most African nations struggle to overcome.  “…Approximately 12 million civilians have lost their lives in the intrastate battles of the last sixteen years” (Rotberg, 2006).  Although there was colonial rule present in Africa, it was there for a relatively short period of time (around fifty years) compared to other areas of the world who were also colonized (Rotberg, 2006).  Violence is known to create a cycle and perpetuate more violence, and perhaps time and hard work at peacemaking are the only remedies to this ongoing epidemic.      

Africans are losing faith in democracy as elections leave them feeling powerless.  Elections are often with severe irregularities and popular candidates are excluded from the ballots (Soe, 2009).  The situation on Nigeria is a perfect example of a recent election where the process is full of quandaries.  The people of Nigeria, a large and rather wealthy African nation, feel helpless against the big machine of the government.  When they question the obvious faults of the system, they are accused of perpetuating coup attempts by not supporting the establishment in power (Soe, 2009).  The recent election itself was a violent affair where deception was uncovered and the process was not always made easy for everyone who wanted to vote (Soe, 2009).  To some it must seem like a lot of trouble to go through for questionable results when most Africans are unsure of how these elections can change their lives (Vadi, 2009).  By 2005, only twenty five percent of Nigerians were satisfied with democracy in Nigeria, down from eighty four percent in 2000 (Soe, 2009).  The riches derived from its natural resources aren’t being distributed in a manner that will increase the quality of life for all Nigerians.  Although Nigeria isn’t representative of all of Africa, who is slowly making strides towards freer society, it is an example of corruption at its worst when the stakes are high and there is a lot to be gained by cheating.      

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        Once in power some leaders limit what the media can say.  This virtually eliminates any opposition, as in Ghana.  President John Kufuor's regime doesn’t allow air time for anyone who disagrees with him, and there have been statements that his opponents are harassed by government officials (Nduru, 2009).  This type of control makes it impossible for a democracy to function.  People fighting for their rights and for better lives have their requests fall on deaf ears. In Guinea, President Lansana Conte has been in power for twenty three years.  Recently, sixty people died when the government squashed protests about the ...

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