This document discusses challenges with democratization in Africa. It provides background on different types of democracies and examines why some attempts at establishing democracy have failed in countries like Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Liberia and Ethiopia. These countries face issues like corruption, poverty, human rights abuses, and authoritarian rule under dictators which undermine democratic reforms. The document also analyzes factors that can contribute to successful democracies, such as respect for the rule of law, human rights, and the will of the people.

1. Democratization in Africa
Why do some efforts to democratize fail to lead to a new
democratic regime while others succeed?
“If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a
society through violence. If we desire a society without
discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in
the process of building this society. If we desire a society that
is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as
an end.”(Bayard Rustin). There are 192 countries total in the
world today and 123 are democracies. Democracy is good for
everyone. So why is it that some countries fail to democratize to
lead to a new democratic regime while others succeed? Africa
for instance, is one of the largest continents on earth however,
it seems hard for countries to adapt the idea of democracy.
So what exactly is democracy? According to Carol Ann in the
book Introducing Comparative Politics: Concepts and Cases in
Context she writes, “democracy is a regime in which citizens
have basic rights of open association and expression and the
ability to change the government through some sort of electoral
process”(Carol Ann). There are two different types of
democracies majoritarian and consensus. A majoritarian
democracy is a democratic system that concentrates power more
tightly in a single-party executive with executive dominance
over the legislature, a single legislative branch, and
constitutions that can be easily amended. On the other hand, a
consensus democracy is a democratic system with multi party
executives in a coalition government, executive-legislative
balance, bicameral legislatures, and rigid constitutions that are
not easily amended. Several countries on the continent of Africa
such as Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Liberia and Ethiopia all
have failed democracies.
More than half the population of these countries live below the
poverty line. These countries face serious problems of

2. corruption, human rights issues, disease, and lack total
infrastructure. In an article written by Jason Mclure entitled
Why Democracy Doesn’t Work in Africa he writes “The
democratizations process of the continent is not faring very
well”(Mclure). These countries are primarily ran on
authoritarianism which cause the citizens to live in fear. In fear
to speak up and voice their opinions because of the possibility
of prosecution or even a civil unrest.
The collapse of the Soviet Union affected Africa tremendously.
The Soviet Union aided certain countries in Africa with military
advisors, trade relations, and offered substantial help with the
government and economy. However, when the Soviet Union
collapsed aid that the states were receiving came to a halt and
military regimes also fell. As the Union fell multi-party
democracies began to arise. With these parties came crooked
government officials came into place and would loot money and
enforce laws for the good of themselves.
In an article entitled Democracy and Majority Rule in South
Africa: Implications for Good Governance the authorSamuel
Augustine Umezurike gave a list of 8 factors that should be
correspondent with every state that is a democracy. The first
factor he states is that “the rule of law and constitutionalism
must be practised; the will of the people/majority are respected;
citizens participation is essential and encouraged; citizens
participation is exercised periodically in free and fair elections
through which elected representatives assume leadership
positions; the government is established in power only for the
purpose of serving the citizens; the government is subject to the
power of the people who should be able to remove the
government in terms of constitutional provision; separation of
the powers, based on checks and balances, should be contained
in the constitution and respected; respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms as enshrined in the
constitution”(Umezurike). These are simple guidelines that
every democracy should follow to ensure some success.
Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Liberia, and Ethiopia are all

3. countries ran by a dictator. Perhaps, this is why these countries
are all failed democracies. These 5 countries face more
similarities than they do differences. The government is
extremely corrupt in each of the 5 countries. In a dictatorship,
the entire state is ruled by one person. This one person has
control over all military, political, and economic institutions.
The dictator usually gains total control through force. Several
civil wars have occurred and the government has the blood of
hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens on their hands. When
living under a dictator you have no rights. You do as they say or
consequences will be certain. In an article by Norman
Anderson, Sudan in Crisis: The Failure of Democracy he
explains the problem within Sudan. “The major problem is the
lack of coherence of government and the problem of political
divergence and fragmentation caused by alliances between
tribes, religious orders, political factions, parties and the
military with outside states and movements. . . the population
displacement brought about by war and famine only increased
the level of intervention and political
fragmentation”(Anderson). The system has to be fixed and the
dictators have to be overthrown. The citizens of these countries
have no basic human rights and fight for their basic needs
everyday.
So why do some democracies fail and others succeed? One
answer may be that most countries who succeed aren’t ran by a
corrupt dictator. A democracy is good for everyone. Democracy
promotes human rights, it represents the people, and most
importantly liberty and freedom. Marie- Joelle Zahar gives in
Norm Transmission in Peace- and Statebuilding: Lessons from
Democracy Promotion in Sudan and Lebanon two approaches to
democracy promotion. The political approach and the
developmental approach. “A political approach focuses on
procedural aspects of democracy such as the conduct of free and
fair elections and the respect of political liberties. . . the
developmental approach takes a longer view of democracy as a
slow iterative process of interconnected political, economic,

4. social, cultural, and attitudinal changes”(Zahar). If a democracy
is to be successful it should follow the guidelines that were
presented earlier Umezurike article.
A democracy is the best form of government. A democracy
allows the people to vote for what they want it gives them a
voice. Unlike a dictatorship with democracy you have rights and
you are free. In order for a democracy to be successful it has to
respect the people and be in good favor of the people. “The
strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate,
but they endure when people of every background and belief
find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a
greater purpose”(Barack Obama).
Work Cited
Zahar, Marie-Joëlle. "Norm Transmission in Peace- and
Statebuilding: Lessons from Democracy Promotion in Sudan and
Lebanon." Global Governance, vol. 18, no. 1, Jan-Mar2012, pp.
73-88. EBSCOhost,
ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.c
om/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=73501912&site=eds-
live&scope=site.
The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively
debate, but they endure when people of every background and
belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a
greater purpose.
BARACK OBAMA, press conference, Feb. 9, 2009
Humphrey, Michael. "Sudan in Crisis: The Failure of
Democracy." Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), no. 3, 2000.
EBSCOhost,
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om/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.66938027&s
ite=eds-live&scope=site.

5. if we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a
society through violence. If we desire a society without
discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in
the process of building this society. If we desire a society that
is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as
an end.
Bayard Rustin, Dec. 3, 1969
McLure, Jason. “Why Democracy Doesn't Work in Africa.”
Newsweek, 21 June2010, www.newsweek.com/why-democracy-
doesnt-work-africa-73203.
Samuel Augustine, Umezurike and Iwu Chux Gervase.
"Democracy and Majority Rule in South Africa: Implications
for Good Governance." Acta Universitatis Danubius: Relationes
Internationales, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 79-96 (2017), no. 1, 2017, p.
79. EBSCOhost,
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om/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.13fdfa46bcc
f4c90a2e8ab3b9d4d8e74&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Orvis, Stephen Walter, et al. Introducing Comparative Politics.
CQ Press, 2018.