July 2009

“Locking-in” Liberal democracy in South Africa, explaining democratization through an alternative perspective

As the state of South Africa transitioned from Apartheid and into democracy in 1994, many speculated whether South Africa’s democratic experiment would last beyond the initial presidency of then-President Nelson Mandela; fortunately democracy has appeared to have taken rather resilient roots since its inception. However such a development begs the question as to how can South African democratic successes is...

Author(s): Nicholas Knowlton    

July 2009

The impact of manipulated re-elections on accountability and legitimacy of democratic regimes in Africa: Observations from Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya

This study analyzes causes and impact of pharisaic free and fair elections on African democracies. It is absurd when democratic governments in Africa perform poorly in office, yet they continue to renew their mandates in supposedly free and fair elections. This problem derives from regarding political offices by incumbent elites as sources of private wealth accumulation without suffering negative consequences. This...

Author(s): U. B. Ikpe