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10 pages/≈2750 words
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Chicago
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History
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Democracy in Africa: Origins. Democratic successes in South Africa vs. Benin

Essay Instructions:

Is there a successful democratic transition in Africa? Compare and contrast South Africa democracy, successes and challenges, and why it might be irreversible to Benin also successes and challenges and why it might be irreversible. I have about 8 artials to use. 1- Begin with intro to Africa’s problems after the decolonization period, and the state systems which were dominated by personal rule and military coup before the democratization process. Use Article 1&2 plz. 2- Include your thesis in the intro according to the essay question above ; make sure it’s a clear thesis. 3- Then Define democracy, liberal democracy- Procedural democracy vs. Substantive Democracy and waves of democracies then incorporate Africa transition to democracy, use the remaining articles highlighting the progress and the challenges, political and socioeconomic factors associated with African in general and then start to incorporate the 2 main countries South Africa, and Benin as an example showing the success and the challenges and why it might be irreversible… please make sure to apply the readings along the way in your example of south Africa and Benin - 7 pages. 4- Conclusion. 5- Chicago style. And please use the articles included only no others I need at least 3 citation in each page. General: 3 pages for the intro and 7 pages for south Africa and benin

 

Democracy in Benin: achievements and challenges

UNU-WIDER / Aug 2012

President Yayi Boni of Benin was one of the eight African leaders invited to attended the May 2012 G8 summit at Camp David to discuss the issue of food security. This is perhaps an indication that the country is doing something right, at least from the perspective of its donors in the developed world. But what has been the effect of donors on the process of democratic consolidation in Benin?

Benin has long been a particularly important country for donors, it was one of the  first African countries to democratize at the end of the Cold War and as such gained a reputation as 'the laboratory of democratization in Africa'. Two decades have now past since the beginning of Benin's democratic transition, in that time the country has held five presidential elections and, at least from a procedural point of view, democracy appears to be consolidated.

Over this same period the role of foreign aid in the country has changed. Initially development aid was targeted primarily at helping the country survive severe economic problems and allowing the government to fulfill critical functions. Now donors are focusing more on specific aspects of democratic consolidation such as free and fair elections and the promotion of civil society, both directly through democracy aid, and indirectly through placing conditions on aid for development. In the UNU-WIDER working paper 'Beyond Electoral Democracy: Foreign Aid and the Challenge of Deepening Democracy in Benin' Mamoudou Gazibo looks at the effect Foreign Aid has had on democratic consolidation in Benin and argues that while it has a positive impact in some areas it has failed to enhance good governance, the rule of law, and accountability.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA
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Introduction
Africa was under European colonization for the greater part of 18th century. After almost half a decade of white rule, liberation of African ensued in 1945, just after the Second World War. Soon after gaining independence, Africans under new leadership and self-rule they found themselves in problems they had never anticipated before. Some of these immediate challenges included taking control of the institutions, governing the people, planning for the future and sharing the power w. African leaders who had been handed the power to rule took the root of single party rule, since they did not want to freely share the power. This was the beginning of the Africa democratization challenges. Some of these leaders argued that economic liberation and empowerment of the African people was the core focus of independence and democracy was a luxury they could not afford. This led to problems that sparked series of coups and attempted coups that rocked the African continent in the 70s and 80s. The coups led to emergence of leaders who were selfish and thwarted democratic progress of the continent. However, uneven they were, most countries’ democratic efforts set new terms of political discourse in Africa. The fruits of the few remaining nationalistic leaders were being seen, as their long fight against the oppressive governments was being effective. This paper supports the argument that the path adopted by first African leaders failed to allow their countries such as Benin to achieve proper democratization, however, there are success in some countries such as South Africa offers hopes in reversing these challenges.[Bill Freund, "The Decolonization of Africa: 1940-60" Extract from the Making of Contemporary Africa, 2nd E. (Lundon, UK: MacMillan Press, 1998) 183..] [Young, 297]
According to Young (1998) the democratization of African nations after independence passed through a series of three waves. To begin with, after independence, the continent’s dominant mode of governance was patrimonial autocracy, an almost pure dictatorship mode. Immediately after the independence, what followed was a series of constitutional changes, which were aimed at changing how the institutions functioned and how power was shared amongst the Africans. These constitutional changes were marred with controversies, as most of the people wanted the law to favor them. As Young puts it, there was some external influence from the communists and third world dictatorships. These were in support of the democratization. They used this as a pretext, where In fact, they were fighting against imperialism. The west on its side saw the democratization process as a kind of extermination point of colonialism and entry into self-rule era. The initial phase of transition into full democracy that had been thwarted by dictatorship, totalitarian rule and internal conflicts was renewed with nationa...
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