Democracy : The Nature Of African Democracy In Africa

In the midst of the prevalence of democratic transitions, a number of developing countries are seeking to achieve the successful consolidation of civil order in modern days. Among those participants, Mexico and Nigeria has been spotlighted for the completely contrastive endings at the end of their long-adventures towards democratization since their independence; Mexico, from its independence, has maintained the political stability despite the authoritarian single-party regime and even accomplished the solid democratization at the time of the 2000 election whereas Nigerian regime has been deteriorated by a series of military cues d’états and

Since the dawn of mankind, there has always been a struggle for power, from our primitive ancestors to our present day, supposed, enlightened times. There have been a variety of systems that spawned and died in the political world. It can be assumed that the fruition of democracy emerged after the desire to create a system in which it was equal, sustainable, and transparent and where human rights was recognized. Robert Dahl, a prominent political scientist, had believed creating a democratic society in which he considered was perfect had to have (Dahl, 2000): effective participation, equal voting, enlightened understanding, an open agenda setting and inclusion (p.37-38) . In the present day, there are many countries that consider themselves

Although African countries are facing many severe problems including weak national identities and limited governmental capabilities, war might not be the only way to strengthen the state and develop national identities. When we consider the intense globalization undertaken by the world, collaboration by African unification provides another choice

Europe and Africa have been linked together in evaluating the state formation process. Both regions have similarities, strengths, weaknesses, and room for improvement. To this day both regions are far from perfect. Some light can be shed on this subject, by evaluating Europe and Africa’s state formation process, evaluating what party benefits, and briefly explaining two economic consequences of European colonialism in Africa.

A democracy is a form of government in which a nation is ruled by its people. This can be done through direct democracy, which is a more straight-forward way for citizens to make decisions. It can also be done through indirect democracy, which involves citizens electing officials to represent them. The origins of democracy began in Greece where direct democracy was practiced as tribes or

Democracy is a Greek invention, first practiced in the ancient Greek city of Athens. In the late 20th century, Democracy triumphed over all other major ideological systems, so overpowering was its victory that former critics now began to advocate their own democratic credentials. The vigorous rise of democracy has continued ever since and today there are over 112 self-proclaimed democratic countries around the world(Kekic 2007), whether all these countries are truly democratic or not is debatable and which will be discussed further in the essay. Important questions arise here: will democracies face a formidable opponent in the future? Have democracies remained true to their essence? or have they been breached by competing ideologies? A large majority of these 112 countries are not true democracies, as they do not adhere to the basic democratic credentials of :of the people, by the people and for the people. Serious revisions are needed in the workings of the modern state if democracy, in its true form, is to remain the dominant system. Whether democracy even in its purest form is flawed or not is a different question, one that I will not address in this essay.

The election’s education shortage to several Africans brings about no sense for their voice to be heard and registering their opinions on how they think the government should operate. Yet witnessing lost of this privilege to vote, some believe it cannot bring about change.

Dr A Kefale, The Role of Independent National Institutions in Multiparty Democracy in Africa: Some Observations, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

Democracy is almost everywhere in the world. Europe has used its form of government for almost half a century. North and South America are now virtually a hemisphere of democracy; Africa is experiencing democratic reform; and new, democracies have taken root in Asia. Democracy may be a word familiar to most, but it is a concept still misunderstood and misused. Freedom and democracy are often used to mean the same thing, but they are not the same. People in democracy have many rights. This form of government isn’t just for the government, it helps the people. Also how democratic leaders are elected.

Since the Cold War era, the spread of democracy and its implications have been highly debated across the world. As more states adopt this method of government, the question of how to interact with opposing states has taken the spotlight in the context of international relations. Some scholars, like Robert Kaplan, believe that democratic elections do not help with social and economic stability in developing countries. Others, particularly supporters of the United States idea of democracy such as Sean Jones, believe that democracy benefits the inhabitants of newly democratizing states, promotes peace in the international system, and advances U.S. interests. This paper will explore the support and opposition of the claim that spreading

The wider ramification that this thesis attempts to show is how to best understand how countries interact with each other, there needs to be exploration of the nation’s state interests. The problem with international relations is that it often ignores the uniqueness of African states by categorising them as part of the ‘third world’ or part of more powerful nation’s schemes for their own interests. The different interpretations of realism are seriously affected by dismissing the power politics of Africa in regional, continental or global international politics. Additionally is the reinforcement of a double standard of how states operate. To say that some states operate in self-interest but others do not because of their weak political position in the global theatre is problematic. This is just as problematic of designating one policy trait, such as the genocide guilt card, as the only one of a nation. The complexities of the international sphere can only be properly understood through examining the nations that compose it. Thus this case study allows structural realism to build itself in a region, which had not been previously interested because of Cold War politics and Euro-centric focus. The rise of African power nations in the post-Cold War era is an opportunity for realists to be able to test their theories with nations that follow many of realism’s

In nearly every place in the world African people are pressed into the bottom of society. Every measure of the quality of social confirms this as reality.

A democratic system is one that states strive for, as it allows for popular participation through the electoral process; and depending on implementation tactics, states may or may not be successful in this pursuit. Democracy looks different across nations, as exemplified with presidential, parliamentary and mixed systems being put in place. However, what is the allure of democracy? Herein, differences in executive leadership and duties and differences in powers are addressed in order to better understand what democracy is and why it is a sought-after system of governance.

Both Ghana and the Ivory Coast have been colonized in the 19th and 20th century, and both managed to gain their independence peacefully. After gaining their independence Ghana and the Ivory Coast were seen as economic and political models for African countries but facts and statistics from today will show that Ghana has emerged as one of Africa’s most stable democratic countries meanwhile the Ivory Coast is only starting to recover from its last civil war. How can two neighboring countries who have similar pasts at similar time frames become so different? What dependent and independent variable have changed the course these two countries were set out to take? We will answer these two questions and will pay close attention as to how and why these once similar countries became so different.

The topic of this essay is whether or not democratic elections are important in rebuilding a failed state. I strongly believe that democratic elections are indeed important in rebuilding a failed state. But first of all, what are democratic elections?