The State of Democracy in Africa

“The State of Democracy in Africa. What do Africans think?”. This is the title of an event organised by the GIGA Institute for African Affairs on April 12 in Berlin. At the event, Dr. Joseph Asunka, CEO of Afrobarometer, presented the results of the latest round of his organisations’ surveys from more than 39 countries. The presentation was followed by brief comments from Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau, Director of the GIGA Institute for African Affairs, and Ambassador Christoph Retzlaff, Director Sub-Saharan Africa and Sahel at the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Afrobarometer is a pan-African survey research organisation that provides reliable data on experiences, evaluations and aspirations of African citizens regarding democracy, governance and quality of life. Its goal is to give African public a voice in policy- and decision-making. Eight rounds of surveys have been completed since 1999 in up to 39 countries. The round 9 survey is underway.

The organisation’s previous round of surveys found out that citizens in many African countries were losing faith in democratic processes and institutions, and that there is a growing perception that elections are not very effective. These worries are validated by experiences with corruption, poverty, and ethnic and religious divisions, among other things. According to many observers, democratic achievements in Africa are at risk. A recent wave of military coups has raised fears of further backsliding to authoritarian rule.

Presenting the new results of the surveys, Mr. Joseph Asunka stated that most African citizens (69%) still prefer democracy to any other kind of government, including military and one-party or one-man rule.

According to the Afrobarometer CEO, overall, in Africa, there is still a massive support of elections. Most Africans (65%) support multi-party competition, whereas 67% reject military rule. Older people are more disapproving of the military rule than the younger generation. And all generations prefer accountable governance.

On the other side, Mr. Asunka added that problems are evident on the supply side of democracy. The demand side of democracy has been consistently higher than the supply side. There is a gap between what people want from their democratic governments and what they get. Satisfaction with democracy has dropped. An increasing number of people want more accountability and a government that delivers.

Prof. Dr. Matthias Basedau, one of the discussants, recognised in Mr. Akunda’s presentation signs of hope despite the democratic backslidings. In his opinion, there is still a general support for democracy in the continent regardless of the several threats to democracy, such as adverse socio-economic conditions, intergroup conflicts, the comeback of the military as a political actor, little trust in civic leaders and the temptation of autocratisation. For him, one way through which Europeans could contribute to deal with these threats would be to avoid paternalistic attitudes as well as cold war habits, treat democratic governments preferentially and disseminate the right narrative that democracy means freedom of oppression.

According to Ambassador Christoph Retzlaff, it seems that, despite their general backing of democracy, many African citizens are not satisfied about the way it currently works. The benefits of democratic systems need to improve, since people’s major concerns are about generating jobs, health, education and security. Rule of law, democratic resilience and freedom of expression should be strengthened as well.

Prof. Dr. Basedau highlighted that when people are dissatisfied with civilian leaders, they tend to look for authoritarian solutions.  “However, the military are usually not good rulers”, he stated.

Mr. Asunka agreed that support to military interventions, which is currently stronger among young people, starts to rise when democratic systems fail to deliver on critical issues and when there is abuse of power by civilian authorities. “People want a mechanism to control democratic systems, when they spiral out of control.”, Mr. Asunka added. And he emphasised the importance to raise the interest of young Africans in democratic engagement, since younger people trust democratic institutions less than older generations.