Democratic Experience in Africa

Since African countries began attaining independence in 1960s and 1970s, from European colonists, a few countries in this continent embarked on establishing their own independent systems of government. Most of these countries simply inherited the systems that were used by their former colonial masters. Up to 1990s, most African states had a one party system of government, or military governments which were autocratic. Yet according to Zolberg (1965) survey in West Africa, the rise of one party state was inevitable given the raw nature of African opposition.

However in the early 1990s, Africa began experiencing “second liberation” that opened new avenues for democratic development in the continent. After 1990, many African nations such as Ghana Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, and Kenya among others legalized opposition parties and held competitive multi party elections. Nonetheless, these elections have not been able to meet the minimum criteria of democracy, free and fair. Consequently, Africa failed to transition to established democracy.

However, many African nations have made considerable efforts towards democratic transition and consolidation. For practical purposes this article grounds its case in Ghana in an attempt to explain how African countries have made significant efforts and established democratic and participatory systems of governance. Following a democratic transition in 1992, Ghana has made significant efforts to promote a liberal democratic culture and system of Government (Fobih, 2008).

It can be argued that the country has made significant strides towards its goal of consolidating a democratic process and culture. This is evident in the five successive elections that it has held since 1992, in improvements in human and political rights, in the independence of various institutions of government such as the Electoral Commission and in the significant role played by the media and civil society organizations. Nonetheless, there are a number of constraints and challenges that need to be addressed in order to sustain the gains that the country has chalked up in the democratic consolidation process. The last two to three decades has seen what Huntington (1991, 1996) has described as the ‘third wave’ of democracy. As part of this wave, a number of developing countries, including Ghana, have made concerted efforts to not only embark on the democratic process but also consolidate it. 

Despite these achievements, a major challenge that bedevils many countries has focused on how to put in place structures and institutions to consolidate these gains and not squander the benefits of the democratic transition process. Efforts to address this challenge are compromised by limitations of both capacity and political will. At the broadest level, in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, challenges also persist in consolidating a democratic culture and institutional structures based on tolerance and accountability. Other challenges to the consolidation of democratic principles and good governance revolve around the role of the independent and often courageous media, which, while being crucial for the accountability and transparency, also tend to have a number of weaknesses.

As Gyimah- Boadi (2009) Points out, the independence and administrative capacity of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has improved with each election, while Levels of public interest in national elections remain high (evidenced by voter turnouts consistently above 70 percent). In addition, the country’s key democratic institutions – the judiciary, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and parliament – continue to develop and solidify, and media freedoms and respect for human rights have expanded from one election to the next. 

Moreover, Ghana’s growing international prestige has helped bring substantial external aid and assistance to the country. Besides enjoying debt relief from bilateral and multilateral sources, and from initiatives such as the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) program me, it has also benefited from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) that was introduced by the USA government in 2004 to assist countries in the developing world that were perceived as promoting  good political governance, investing in people, fostering enterprise and entrepreneurship,  building capacity for trade and investment, furthering economic reform and anti-corruption efforts. 

Of interest in this discussion is the relationship between the role of key democratic institutions and the factors that inhibit their capacity to be effective in expanding their activities and operations in the democratic process. Civic groups, as Putnam (1993, 2000) have pointed out, help individuals to socialize, interact and also mobilize to engage in mass demonstrations, protests and civil disobedience to exert pressure on authoritarian regimes to engage in democratic transition, as well as demand governmental transparency and accountability. They also help promote institutionalized social trust that helps deepen the democratic process. Civil Society organizations (CSOs) have been able to perform these roles within the context of Ghana’s democratic consolidation process. 

The performance of the media can be assessed in terms of their professionalism in their coverage of election campaigns and examines their role as gatekeepers in the democratic process. By looking at issues such as the nature of political reporting by the media and the role of civil society, as well as examining how key democratic institutions such as the EC and judiciary are performing, one can attempts to assess the extent to which democratic transition and consolidation is occurring in Ghana.