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Going Within African Elections: Two Divergent Trends

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Africa has been a region that has been through countless hardships, from the exploitation of slavery to the apartheid policy that was implemented by the Europeans. Today the Continent of Africa is in a predicament; some countries are democratic while others are full-fledged autocracies. Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union during World War II, and the release of Nelson Mandela from jail, democracy has been on the rise in Africa. However some countries within Africa that have tried to take the step towards democratization have been pulled back into the clutches of authoritarianism through the hands of a president. The article African Elections: Two Divergent Trends, written by Kennedy Ocieng’ Opalo informs the readers that Africa is going …show more content…

This can particularly be seen in the recent elections that took place in 2011. On September 20th, in Zambia the president Rupiah Banda lost the elections to the opposition party, while in Cameroon the citizen’s re-elected their president of thirty years back to presidency (Opalo 2012,80). The case of Zambia displays that democratization is becoming stronger in that particular area, however in Cameroon authoritarianism is rising and becoming more prevalent and stronger. This trend can also be seen in countries such as Benin, Cape Verde and Ghana (Opalo 2012,80). These countries are taking the step towards having responsible governments, more civil liberties, and justice, while countries such as Nigeria and Zimbabwe are going through the exact opposite trend. Both of these countries are discrediting civil liberties, responsible government and other democratic characteristics. Instead they are furthering the power and the authority of …show more content…

Opalo believes that the power that the “big man,” the individual who is in power (Opalo 2012, 82) contains is central to how democracy emerges. He also believes that legislative elections affect whether or not democracy will develop. The power that the president holds is central to whether or not democracy will emerge because the president has the power to extend the presidential term limits. Out of forty countries twenty-two have adopted term limits, but thirteen presidents have tried to get rid of the limits. However ten presidents succeeded in doing so. The legislature is key to democratization because it is a separate body that keeps the president and the officials accountable. Opalo displays that presidents who have gotten a hold of the legislature tend to increase or completely abolish the presidential term limits, which leads to the individual in power to become an

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