What have been the challenges of democratic state formation in Africa? Discuss with the help of a relevant case study of your choice
Introduction
Democracy, be it as a system of rule or concept, is characterised by a high level of ambiguity in contemporary political analysis. For this reason, democracy as a concept has been subjected to numerous definitions contradictory practices, and antagonistic interpretations (Meckstroth 2015). This should not come as a surprise considering how democracy has received global acclaim and widespread praise, in effect making it increasingly hard to pin down its definition to a single source. Politicians from both the extreme right and extreme left have time and again stressed that they are in full support of democratic rule or politics. Unsurprisingly, military regimes have also been seen to invoke the idea of democracy, never mind that they cannot 'deliver' democracy, in the words of Mundt et al. (2008). This is because the type of ‘democracy’ propagated by military regimes is usually interspersed by widespread invasion of the basic human rights. This fits in with the definition of democratism, which Ekeh describes as a label of law that utilises 'false principles of the institutions of democracy' (1993, p. 51), even as it endevours to develop anti-democratic conditions. While democracy is widely acknowledged as the best type of government in the modern world, there are numerous challenges to its formation. Nowhere are these challenges more pronounced than in Africa, where growing social and economic inequalities, corruption and inefficiency, anti-social elements, either singly or in combination, have played a key role in thwarting efforts to realise democracy. The premise of this essay is two-fold. First, it seeks to examine the challenges of democratic state formation in Africa and secondly, to use Nigeria as a case study in illustrating how the challenges identified have made the realisation of democracy a mirage.
Trends in Democratic Development in Africa
Post-colonial African states share in common certain differences and commonalities. Some of the common features in most African states include colonial experiences, neo-patrimonial cultures, foreign influence, entrenchment of dictatorship, as well as fragile economies (Potter 2004). Certain regions in Africa are also highly prone to conflict, as evidenced by civil wars, interstate skirmishes, and clamouring for resources and power (Tar 2010). Nevertheless, nuanced differences are also evident in African countries. For example, whereas most African countries remain under-developed, heterogeneous and at the mercy of former colonisers or western imperialism, there are still a few countries with impressive economic and social development records. A good example is South Africa.
Democracy involves political arrangements and participation. In other words, democracy encompasses processes and institutions that guarantee a people the freedom and rights to replace and choose leaders via free, fair and regular elections, access and equality of opportunity (Vráblíková 2016), and the ability to distribute social burdens and benefits equally. There are two general ways through which democracy may be conceptualized: electoral democracy and liberal democracy. With regards to electoral democracy, a country is said to be democratic if it holds free, fair, and open election (Goodwin-Gil 2006). On the other hand, the liberal democracy conceptualisation views democracy through the lens of political freedom (such as in a transparent government, during elections, and political participation), as well as civil liberties (for example, the rule of law, freedom of speech, and union rights). In a liberal democracy, elected officials possess authority and power, while the police and the military are subordinate to them. A Liberal democracy is also characterised by an independent judiciary which seeks to uphold the rule of law. Consequently, citizens have legal and political equality, there is respect for group and individual liberties, while state officials abide by are governed by the law. Moreover, a liberal democracy affords people the freedom to demonstrate, organise, petition, publish, and speak their minds. Electronic and print media have the freedom to comment and report, as well as to expose wrongdoing. Moreover, this conceptualisation of democracy enables minority groups the freedom to practice their faith, beliefs, and cultures without fear of victimization. Liberal and electoral democracy is at the highest in Euro/Anglo areas, which is estimated at 100%. On the other hand, Sub-Saharan African is reported to have electoral and liberal democracy scores of 37% and 14%, respectively, with countries in North Africa fairing even worse (Anyanwu & Erhijakpor 2013). While there has been an expansion in global democracy over the past four decades, nonetheless, we have also witnessed a growing tide of “democratic recession” or breakdowns since 1999 (Diamond 2013). Examples of countries in Africa that have experienced democratic breakdowns during this period include Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya. As a matter of fact, between 1974 and 2011, we have witnessed a 32% democratic breakdown across the globe, twice the number recorded between 1974 and 1985 (Diamond 2012).
While the world remained virtually non-democratic till 1990, in the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, it remained undemocratic till 1999 while most countries in North Africa are still categorised as undemocratic. Africa as a continent is viewed as having experienced a “second liberation” starting form the early 1990s, a move that brought hope to many Africans of experiencing democratic development. Most countries that were hitherto identified as one-party states, legalised opposition parties, thereby setting the stage for multiparty elections. However, most of these elections were faulted and criticised on grounds that they failed to meet the minimum standards for free and fair democratic elections. Nonetheless, the recent crises involving military coups in such countries as Niger (2010), Mali (2012), Guinea Bissau (2012), and Central African Republic (2013); escalation of political crises in Tunisia, Libya, and Tunisia induced by the “Arab Spring coup d’états”; disputed presidential elections in Kenya, Zimbabwe and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo); as well as the emergence of various violent Islamic groups like the Al-shabaab and Boko Haram (Anyanwu & Erhijakpor 2013), are in themselves disturbing developments that point towards the decayed state of democracy at the institutional level. More importantly, these events have played a contributing role towards threatening the very idea of advancing democracy across the African continent.
Challenges to democracy development in Africa
Growing social and economic inequalities
The rising economic and social inequality in society has been identified as the most critical challenges in democracy. While all citizens have a right to participate in free and fair elections, wealthy politicians have a higher chance of winning elections given their capability to oil the campaign machine and even bribe potential voters (Carbone 2015). In certain regions, the poor, owing to limited civic education, may be compelled to sell their votes in order to buy such basic necessities as food and clothing. In this way, rich people are elected into political offices where they get to frame policies and make laws which favour them.
Inefficiency and corruption
Most government officials and political leaders in Africa have been described as being corrupt, inefficient, and dishonest (Mbaku 2007). Consequently, citizens have lost los faith in politicians and government officials, resulting in their lack of interest in elections. This has negatively impacted the democratisation process.
Lack of credible opposition
According to Dickovick (2012), lack of a credible opposition has been identified as a key challenge for the development of democracy in Africa. In this case, lack of a strong opposition that can question and challenge the programmes and policies implemented by the ruling regime endangers the very idea of democratisation in Africa (Mbaku 2007). Lack of a credible opposition also implies that a country lacks alternative policy programme choices that the electorate demands, not to mention that there is a high likelihood that the ruling regime could oppress the masses simply because there is no second force to challenge their actions.
Weak civil society
Most African states lack a strong, vibrant, and dense civic society that is required in order to counterbalance the existing state hegemony.
A strong civil society is necessary in providing the much needed independent check on the powers of the ruling party. According to Potter (2004), a weak civil society is usually associated with a weak middle class meaning that its stake in society and class interest cannot be put forward.
Ethnicity, nepotism, and religion
Divisive sectarian tendencies such as religion, ethnicity, and nepotism, tend to mitigate governance and politics. Balaton-Chrimes (2016) opines that sectarian loyalties and sentiments of voters and political actors could also hold hostage such democratic processes as voting. In the same way, sectarian sentiments and fragmentation have a lot of influence on state policies.
Challenges to democratic state formation: the case of Nigeria
While democracy remains a universal concept, there are variations in the manner in which it is practiced, especially on the issue of its power acquisition and institutional arrangements. In Nigeria, political and socio-economic inequalities have been a permanent and prominent feature of democracy. Since democracy by definition encompasses empowering the people to government themselves (Diamond 2012), most states have adopted it as their suitable form of government. For this reason, we tend to assume that a government that seeks to fulfill welfare of the masses is democratic. Again, this is an exception and not a norm. Consequently, in some states, democracy is associated with aggregated growth and holistic development and in other states; it is the symbol of inhuman deprivation and betrayal. The latter description personifies the state of democracy in Nigeria. Nigeria has over the decades had to deal with the problem of electoral irregularities in what Osiki (2010) describes as a hindrance to the country’s democratic consolidation. Osiki (2010) assesses the political and historical contexts of election irregularities in Nigeria, as well as the impact that illegal weapons, thugs, and money had on elements of electoral irregularities in the country between 1999 and 2007. In this case, Osiki (2010), note that that the political class relied on the use of dangerous weapons, money politics, and thugs to alienate the electorate and to afford the political class a firm grip on the government.
Elsewhere, Mustapha (2010) examines the empirical and conceptual contexts of corruption in Nigeria, and its role in the democratic process. He reports that government officials in Nigeria misuses government resources for personal aggrandizement. This has in turn resulted in failure of governance, leading to significant socio-economic inequality between the rich and the poor. Since “graft politics” in Nigeria alienates majority of the population, most Nigerians have been compelled to engage in various forms of societal illegalities, including kidnappings, and oil bunkering. This has in turn put a strain on Nigeria's ethical disposition, thus tarnishing the economic and socio-political fabric of the country, with negative implications for Nigeria's democratic process.
Nigeria has a long and protracted history with civil society organisations (CSOs) that can be traced as far back as the colonial era. In particular, civil society activities played a key role in the establishment of democratic governance in Nigeria especially in the 1980s (Odeh 2012). However, CSOs in Nigeria have been bedevilled by such challenges as lack of unity, personal enrichment and corruption, and lack of internal democracy (Ikubaje 2011), and this has limited their operational efficiency (Ojo 2011).
Nigeria is a multi-ethnic country and as such, inter-ethnic conflicts fuelled by politics have had negative implications on the very survival of democracy. Ethnicity in Nigeria can be traced to the country's experience with the colonial powers, especially the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates in 1914. Successive Nigerian Nigeria gained self-rule in 1960 and ever since, Nigeria has come under the rule of four separate republican governments interspersed with protracted military rule (Salawu & Hassan 2011). In particular, the long spells of military rule that Nigeria has come under have made the development of democracy in Nigeria an elusive task. More importantly, ethnic loyalty has also stood in the way of the country's quest for democratic governance. Ethnicity has led to wastage of huge material and human resources in ethnically inspired encounters, battles, violence, and clashes (Aluko 2003), threatening security of property and life, and escalating the fragility of the political and economic process.
Conclusion
Democracy is a controversial process, given that government elected under a free and fair election and military regimes that usurp power under questionable means all allegedly seek to identify with the democratic conceptualisation. While countries in the Anglo/Euro region are recognised for their high level of electoral and liberal democracy, their counterparts in Africa rank very low. Nigeria is among the notable countries in Africa where the pursuit of democratic process has come under various significant challenges such as corruption, socio-economic and political inequalities, ethnicity, and a weak civil society. Some of these challenges draw their roots from the colonial era but have been propagated by powerful politicians who take advantage of the socio-economic inequality in the country to get into power where they manipulate policies and laws in their favour. If at all Nigeria hopes to be counted among the few countries in African renowned for their democratic development, it is important to stamp out the ethnic score card, weed out corruption at government and private organisations, support and empower the civil society, and create a political environment conducive for the development of a strong opposition that can in turn check on the excesses of the government.
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