On the threshold of another false start? A critical evaluation of prodemocracy movements in Africa

Journal of Asian and African Studies

Volumn 31, Issue 1-2, 1996, Pages 125-142

  Ihonvbere, Julius O ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRACY; POLITICAL PARTY; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

AFRICA;

EID: 0029856457     PISSN: 00219096     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/002190969603100110     Document Type: Review

References (54)

1. Masipula Sithole, "Is Zimbabwe Poised on a Liberal Path? The State and Prospects of the Parties," Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. XXI (1-2) (1993), p. 35.
2. S.D. Arthur, "Arkaah and the Golden Tulip Dinner," Ghanaian Times (January 18, 1995).
3. There is also an on-going debate as to whether Africa has the necessary prerequisites for political pluralism. This has also informed some of the recent pessimistic analyses of liberalization programs in the region. Yet, while the preconditions as established in the literature are definitely absent, as Terry Lynn Karl notes, "what the literature has considered in the past to be the preconditions of democracy may be better conceived in the future as outcomes of democracy. Patterns of greater economic growth and more equitable income distribution, higher levels of literacy and education, and increases in social communication and media exposure may be better treated as the products of stable democratic processes rather than as prerequisites of its existence." Terry Lynn Karl, "Dilemmas of Democratization in Latin America," Comparative Politics (2) (October, 1990), p. 5.
4. See Michael Bratton and Nicolas van de Walle, "Popular Protest and Political Reform in Africa," Comparative Politics, Vol. 24 (4) (July, 1992); Samuel Decalo, "The Process, Prospects and Constraints of Democratization in Africa," African Affairs (91) (1992); and Rene Lemarchand, "African Transitions to Democracy: An Interim (and Mostly Pessimistic) Assessment," Africa Insight, Vol. 22 (3) (1992).
5. See Michael Bratton and Nicolas van de Walle, "Popular Protest and Political Reform in Africa," Comparative Politics, Vol. 24 (4) (July, 1992); Samuel Decalo, "The Process, Prospects and Constraints of Democratization in Africa," African Affairs (91) (1992); and Rene Lemarchand, "African Transitions to Democracy: An Interim (and Mostly Pessimistic) Assessment," Africa Insight, Vol. 22 (3) (1992).
6. See Michael Bratton and Nicolas van de Walle, "Popular Protest and Political Reform in Africa," Comparative Politics, Vol. 24 (4) (July, 1992); Samuel Decalo, "The Process, Prospects and Constraints of Democratization in Africa," African Affairs (91) (1992); and Rene Lemarchand, "African Transitions to Democracy: An Interim (and Mostly Pessimistic) Assessment," Africa Insight, Vol. 22 (3) (1992).
7. Harvey Glickman, "Editor's Introduction," Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. XX (2) (1993), pp. 3-4.
8. Adotey Bing, "Salim A. Salim on the OAU and the African Agenda," Review of Africa Political Economy (50) (March, 1991), p. 67.
9. Ibid.
10. Carol Lancaster, United States and Africa: Into the Twenty-First Century (Washington, DC: Overseas Development Council, 1993), p. 18.
11. See Julius O. Ihonvbere, "Is Democracy Possible in Africa? The Elites, the People and Civil Society," QUEST: Philosophical Discussions, Vol. VI (2) (December, 1992).
12. Michael Bratton, "Are Competitive Elections Enough?" Africa Demos, Vol. II (4) (March, 1995), p. 7.
13. Catherine Newbury, "The Paradoxes of Democratization in Africa," African Studies Review, Vol. 37 (1) (April, 1994), p. 7.
14. Ibid.
15. Adebayo Adedeji, "The Case for Remaking Africa," in: Douglas Rimmer (Ed.), Action in Africa (London: James Currey and Heinemann, 1993), p. 44.
16. Ibid.
17. Bratton and van de Walle, "Popular Protest and Political Reform..." op. cit., pp. 419, 438.
18. Decalo, "The Process, Prospects, and Constraints..." op. cit., p. 8.
19. Rene Lemarchand, "African Transitions to Democracy..." op. cit., p. 178.
20. Ibid., p. 179.
21. Stephen Ellis, "Democracy in Africa-Achievements and Prospects," in: Douglas Rimmer (Ed.), Action in Africa, op. cit., p. 140.
22. See Adebayo Adedeji, "Economic Progress: What Africa Needs," TransAfrica Forum, Vol. 7 (2) (Summer, 1990).
23. See Michael Bratton, "Economic Crisis and Political Realignment in Zambia," in: Jennifer Widner (Ed.), Economic Change and Political Liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1994); and Julius O. Ihonvbere, "Threats to Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Zambia," Asian and African Studies, Vol. 27 (3) (1993).
24. See Michael Bratton, "Economic Crisis and Political Realignment in Zambia," in: Jennifer Widner (Ed.), Economic Change and Political Liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1994); and Julius O. Ihonvbere, "Threats to Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Zambia," Asian and African Studies, Vol. 27 (3) (1993).
25. See Jowie Mwiinga, "Chill for Chiluba," Africa Report, Vol. 39 (2) (March-April, 1994).
26. Bratton, "Economic Crisis and Political Realignment in Zambia," op. cit., p. 120.
27. Ibid.
28. Bratton, "Are Competitive Elections Enough?" op. cit., p. 7.
29. Marina Ottaway, "Democracy and the Challenge of Ethnicity," Africa Demos, Vol. III (4) (March, 1995), p. 22.
30. Rene Lemarchand, "African Transitions to Democracy..." op. cit., p. 178.
31. Georg Sorensen, Democracy and Democratization (Boulder: Westview, 1993), p. 53.
32. See Claude Ake, "Is Africa Democratizing?" The Guardian (Lagos) (December 12, 1993) and Ayesha Imam, "Democratization Processes in Africa: Problems and Prospects," CODESRIA Bulletin (2) (1990).
33. See Claude Ake, "Is Africa Democratizing?" The Guardian (Lagos) (December 12, 1993) and Ayesha Imam, "Democratization Processes in Africa: Problems and Prospects," CODESRIA Bulletin (2) (1990).
34. Sorensen, Democracy and Democratization, op. cit., p. 52.
35. "Algeria," Africa Demos, Vol. 1 (2) (January, 1991).
36. Samuel P. Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman, OK: Oklahoma University Press, 1991), p. 262.
37. Sorensen, Democracy and Democratization, op. cit., p. 54.
38. Githu Muigai, "Kenya's Opposition and the Crisis of Governance," Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. XXI (1-2) (1993), p. 29.
39. See Nelson Kasfir, "Elections in Kenya," Africa Demos, Vol. II (2) (July-August, 1995).
40. S.D. Arthur, "Arkaah and the Golden Tulip Dinner," op. cit.
41. Ibid.
42. Jan Kees van Donge, "Kamuzu's Legacy: The Democratization of Malawi," African Affairs (94) (1994), p. 229.
43. Ibid., p. 249.
44. Ake, "Is Africa Democratizing?" op. cit.
45. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, "Statement at the Kampala Forum, May 19, 1991," in: Olusegun Obasanjo and Felix Mosha (Eds), Africa: Rise to Challenge (New York: Africa Leadership Forum, 1993), pp. 269-270.
46. "Africa's Die-Hard Autocrats," Africa Demos, Vol. II (2) (July-August, 1993).
47. See Richard Sandbrook and Mohamed Halfani (Eds), Empowering People: Building Community, Civic Associations and Legality in Africa (Toronto: Center for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto, 1993).
48. Representative Harry Johnston, "Luncheon Remarks," in: William Minter (Ed.), US Foreign Policy: An Africa Agenda (Washington, DC: Africa Policy Information Center, 1994), p. 18.
49. See I. William Zartman (Ed.), Collapsed States (Boulder: Lynne Reinner, 1995).
50. Olusegun Obasanjo, "Prospects for Peace," in: William Minter (Ed.), US Foreign Policy: An Africa Agenda, op. cit., p. 20.
51. Ibid.
52. Sithole, "Is Zimbabwe Poised on a Liberal Path?..." op. cit., p. 40.
53. Ibid., p. 39.
54. Ibid., p. 35.