By Noe Hinck Challenges to Stability in South Sudan Pope Francis’ recent visit to South Sudan brought the global news spotlight back onto the world’s youngest democracy and highlighted the worsening needs of a population that is only slowly recovering from a protracted state of conflict. Although the civil war officially lasted from 2013 –... Continue Reading →
By Idayat Hassan Democratic Deficiencies in Benin. The third wave of democracy in Africa took root in the republic of Benin, a small West Africa state. Its origin dates back to the constitutional reform of 1990. The reform adopted multiparty democracy and led to the dissolution of the very government that brought it into existence.... Continue Reading →
By Lovise Aalen Cessation of Hostilities In an unexpected diplomatic breakthrough, the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) signed on November 2nd an agreement on a permanent cessation of hostilities (CoH), signalling a first step in ending a two-year war in the Ethiopian northernmost region, one of the least known, but most... Continue Reading →
By Michael Nwankpa A Brief History of Democracy in Nigeria Nigeria’s fledgling democracy boasts of six elections and three changes of government. All these have happened since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civilian government after 16 years of consecutive military regimes. Most describe this period as the Fourth Republic. The Fourth Republic is Nigeria’s longest democratic... Continue Reading →
by Afolabi Adekaiyaoja The Upcoming Election in Nigeria Voters in Nigeria are not much different from voters in any other country. Most voters select between two distinct strategies. The first prioritizes candidate electability. This approach veers toward established politicians such as a former vice-president or well-known national politician with years of experience. This voter wants their... Continue Reading →
Hassen Ebrahim was Executive Director of the Constitutional Assembly of South Africa, and is an advisor on constitution building. He participated in the construction of South Africa's constitution. He is the author of the chapter "Decisions, Deadlocks and Deadlines in Making South Africa’s Constitution" in the forthcoming book Constitution Makers on Constitution Making. Become... Continue Reading →
Rachel Beatty Riedl is the John S. Knight Professor of International Studies, Director of the Einaudi Center for International Studies, and professor in the Department of Government at Cornell University. She also cohosts the podcast Ufahamu Africa with Kim Yi Dionne. Her chapter "Africa’s Democratic Outliers Success amid Challenges in Benin and South Africa" appears... Continue Reading →
Evan Lieberman is a Professor of Political Science and Contemporary Africa at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Director of the MIT Global Diversity Lab, and the faculty director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). He is the coauthor with Rorisang Lekalake of the recent article "South Africa's Resilient Democracy" in the Journal... Continue Reading →
Nic Cheeseman and Gabrielle Lynch discuss their book The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa. The podcast explores how Africans think about democracy from three country case studies including Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Their research for the book was wide and comprehensive including comparative analysis, historical accounts, surveys, and on the ground field research. The... Continue Reading →
Winston Mano explains how social media has reshaped African politics. He is the principal editor of the Journal of African Media Studies and the coeditor of Social Media and Elections in Africa. African Politics and Social Media Recent events in the United States have shown how even the most established democracies have much to learn... Continue Reading →
