We need to address why elections and the electoral system have failed to provide mechanisms for alternation in power and for holding leaders accountable to the electorate. In the second phase that we have entered now, we focus on how particularly dominant party regimes make use of elections and other formalised elements of a minimalist democracy to maintain power, without really institutionalising deep democratic structures. Legitimacy of Power and the Possibilities for Opposition (ongoing)
#DEMOCRACY 3 AFRICA GUIDE DOWNLOAD#
Papers from the conference in Maputo are available for download A main conclusion to be drawn from the first phase of research is that incumbent governments emerging from first and second generation liberation struggles, as well as pro-democracy movements, have great difficulties in accepting power alternation and political opposition. The first set of issues that the project had as its focus, namely Electoral Power, Political Parties and Liberation Movements, was addressed at the project conference in Maputo in April 2010. Electoral Power, Political Parties and Liberation Movements (2010) of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, and CMI. The results of the project may contribute to a wider understanding of challenges in the area of development policies. The project thus aims to play a part in the more policy-oriented debate in Norway and internationally on origins and the future of political change in Africa. The role of international actors in their endeavours to promote democratic change will be thoroughly discussed.
A central focus of our research is to locate the potential room for political debate and possibilities for building demands for political action. We seek to identify power relations between the state, private enterprises and civil society actors. The research will focus on the challenges of institutionalising democratic change in relation to existing formal and informal power structures. The aim of the research project “Elections and Democracy in Africa” is to contribute to a comparative understanding of the challenges facing governance and democracy in a number of African countries.
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