After the end of the Cold War the desirability of competitive elections was widely accepted by African countries. Trying to imitate the Western political model, Africa adopted elections as part of a modern package no more questioned than economic growth or science and technology. Apart from numerous practical imperatives such as international recognition and material aid, the most significant reason for the adoption of Western political institutions was overwhelmingly that they were thought to be right. The effects of elections in Africa did not meet expectations.
This paper from the School of Oriental and African Studies points out that although recently there have been many elections in Africa, not one has brought considerable change, with the exception of Mauritius. Firstly, there is much to suggest that elections may actually exacerbate the relative absence of national and cultural solidarity and reproduce the bitter divisions of highly fragmented societies. Secondly, elections may produce legislatures that are less representative than before. Finally, while democratic elections of representatives are supposed to have an effect on policy-making there is little evidence to suggest that policy has been an issue in African elections at all.
The article makes it clear that these imperfections are not transitional and will not disappear soon. Holding competitive elections will not create a Western-style democracy in Africa. Other conclusions from the study are that:
- The recent wave of democratisation in Africa is largely externally engineered by a post-Cold War triumphant West.
- The democratic rhetoric which surrounds elections in Africa may sharply contrast with their antidemocratic purposes, such as recruiting client networks or co-opting sections of opposition within the elite.
- The electoral practices used to manipulate elections include those concerning the procedures for constituency delimitation, voter registration, candidate nomination, party registration, the electoral campaign, the voting itself and the counting of votes.
- Instead of effectively marginalising communal groups and creating a common national identity, democratic institutions in Africa may in fact reinforce and develop local communal identities.
- Those who currently are most vehement in foisting democracy on Africans are also most insistent that they should subject themselves to the international economy dominated by the West.
By trying to implant its own political culture and institutions into African soil the West does great good neither for Africa nor for itself. Africans should be left alone with the only right worth having – the right to construct their own future in their own way. The policy implications from the article include the need for:
- Scholars to go beyond conventional mainstream Western understanding of elections and democracy and research how electoral processes are perceived and understood in non-Western cultural settings and how competing parties or candidates adjust to them.
- Observers to look beyond societal aspirations, ideological assumptions and constitutional formalism to identify real purposes of elections in Africa.
- Policy makers to stop enforcing multi-party systems on African states.
