By Prof. Felix Kumah-Abiwu
Executive summary
While recent discussions on Africa’s democratic trajectory often focus on democratic backsliding, military coups, and governance challenges, the continent also offers important examples of democratic resilience. This article argues that democratic resilience, defined as the capacity of democratic systems to withstand political shocks while preserving core democratic values and institutions, deserves greater scholarly and policy attention. Drawing on the experiences of Ghana and Botswana, it highlights how competitive elections, peaceful transfers of power, and sustained commitment to democratic norms continue to strengthen democracy across parts of Africa. The article concludes that reinforcing democratic institutions, civic engagement, and inclusive economic development remains essential for sustaining democratic resilience on the continent.
Introduction
Africa’s democratic landscape continues to experience complex trends since the 1990s. As Merkel Wolfgang has observed, recent studies on democratic resilience constitute what could be described as the fifth phase in the existing democratization literature. Previous phases include the breakdown of democracy, transition to democracy, consolidation of democracy and democratic backsliding. While democratic backsliding appears to dominate the discourse on Africa’s democracy, experts argue that the continent’s democratic terrain is not a single-story narrative, but “a collection of diverging and still unsettled trajectories.”
One aspect of this debate that receives comparatively less attention is the promise of Africa’s democratic resilience. This paper examines examples of democratic resilience across the continent. It also makes the case why experts need to focus more attention on the study of democratic resilience. The paper begins with recent trends in Africa’s democratic landscape.
Recent Democratic Trends in Africa
Africa’s democratic terrain is not only waxing and waning, but it is also facing challenges in recent years. The dissatisfaction with democracy in terms of its inability to deliver for the people, decline in political/civil rights, abuse of presidential term-limits, and executive aggrandizement/power grabs, and upsurge in military coups are cases in point. A recent work argues that the consolidation of power by the military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger is narrowing the opportunity to return these countries to democratic rule. The 2024 Afrobarometer report underscores similar ideas on democratic challenges and progress across the continent.
For the challenges, the report notes that the support for “democracy has declined by 7 percentage points, including by 29 points in South Africa and 23 points in Mali.” This trend covers 30 African countries that have been consistently surveyed over a decade. The report notes further that opposition to military rule has also weakened by 11 points in the 30 African countries with higher percentages for Mali and Burkina Faso. On the democratic progress, the findings also offer encouraging signs for the future of democracy in Africa. The report indicates that the support for democracy remains strong in 39 countries that were surveyed. About two-thirds (66%) of Africans that were surveyed have expressed their preference for democracy to any other system of government with about 80% rejecting one-party rule and military rule. Three decades of democratic rule and resilience in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Malawi are good examples.
Democratic Resilience
Merkel Wolfgang, a leading scholar on democratic resilience, defines the concept as the ability of a system, in this case a democratic system, to withstand internal or external shocks without giving up its fundamental democratic structures, values, functions, and institutions. Other scholars define democratic resilience as not only about the ability of a democratic system to resist authoritarian threats, but the capacity of the system to be durable and more democratic. As Merkel Wolfgang reminds us, recent studies on democratic resilience constitute the fifth phase in the democratization literature and Africa is not excluded from the new phase on the study of democratization. The question of interest is: What countries in Africa are showing signs of democratic resilience? I address this question by highlighting the tenets and manifestations of democratic resilience on the continent. While democratic backsliding remains an important area of concern, resilience-based analysis provides a complementary lens for understanding how democratic institutions survive, adapt, and endure despite recurring political and governance challenges.
The emerging literature on democratic resilience underscores certain tenets as drivers of resilience.
These tenets include commitment to democratic values by political/societal actors such as political parties, civil society, courts, and ordinary citizens. These tenets are considered as crucial elements in withstanding shocks to a democratic system. Repetitive and competitive multiparty elections have also been identified as critical to democratic resilience. For other experts, democratic resilience is not necessarily based on perfection, but it is grounded on commitment to what could be described as “Democratic Practices of Repetition” (DPR). Repetitive practices such as “holding elections, conceding defeat, protecting media freedom, and upholding the rule of law,” which tend to create what Edem Selormey and Michael Akagbor describe as “democratic muscle memory.”
The Promise of Africa’s Democratic Resilience
As revealed in the preceding discussion, it is clear how democratic resilience looks like or expected to look like on the African continent. I draw on these conceptual ideas to discuss two important cases (Ghana and Botswana). Ghana and Botswana’s commitment to democratic practices are not only well-known and internationally recognized, but these countries have also shown elements of democratic resilience for decades. For example, Ghana’s democracy is faced with challenges, but the country continues to demonstrate progress and resilience in its three decades of democratic rule. The several competitive/repetitive elections that were held since 1992 with peaceful transfers of power (turnover elections) as well as the peaceful resolution of post-election disputes (2012 and 2020) have shown elements of “Democratic Practices of Repetition” and the country’s ability to withstand shocks without giving up its fundamental democratic values, structures, and functions.
Botswana has also been praised as one of Africa’s model democracies with respect to its governance structures, record of free and fair elections, and respect for the rule of law. However, the dominance of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) as the ruling party for about six decades with no ruling-party turnover tarnished the country’s democratic image. But the historic shift in Botswana’s 2024 elections which led to a turnover of government as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) defeated the ruling BDP, shows signs of democratic resilience on the continent. Saskia Brechenmacher and Frances Brown captured it well by noting that the recent/peaceful electoral turnovers in countries such as Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, and Senegal with incumbent party losses provide further evidence of Africa’s progress with democratic resilience.
Conclusion with Policy Ideas and Recommendations
There is no question that Africa’s democratic landscape is facing challenges as democracy is not delivering for the people. Other security and governance problems as well as the ongoing narrative of democratic backsliding on the continent is likely to continue. At the same time, as earlier stated, Africa’s democratic terrain is not a single-story narrative, but “a collection of diverging and still unsettled trajectories.” I share the above assertion on the “diverging argument” and make a strong case for a greater attention in terms of scholarly/policy research on Africa’s democratic resilience.
While concerns about democratic backsliding remain valid, they should not overshadow evidence of democratic resilience emerging across parts of the continent. Democratic resilience does not imply the absence of challenges; rather, it reflects the capacity of democratic institutions, actors, and citizens to preserve democratic norms and adapt to political pressures. Understanding and strengthening these resilience factors will be critical for Africa’s democratic future. From a policy standpoint, I recommend that African leaders and policymakers:
- Sustain the commitment to competitive/repetitive, free, and fair elections.
- Strengthen state/political institutions for effective oversights or horizontal accountability.
- Promote democratic/governance culture on the value and importance of preserving Africa’s democratic values and practices through active civic engagement and education.
- Improve the macro-economic indicators and performances of countries with sound/novel policy ideas for democracy to deliver for the people.
- Promote entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth through technology and innovation programs.
- Foster the rapid implementation of the Agenda 2063 goals of the African Union, especially the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This paper shares the viewpoint that democracy is not perfect, but African countries such as Ghana, Botswana, Kenya, and Senegal among others, have continued to make huge progress by showing important tenets or elements of democratic resilience amid socio-political problems. I conclude by advancing the argument that Africa’s democratic landscape looks promising in the new/emerging phase of scholarship on democratic resilience.
Dr. Felix Kumah-Abiwu
Dr. Felix Kumah-Abiwu is a Non-Resident Fellow (Governance & Democracy Division) at Nkafu Policy Institute (Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation)
Associate Professor/Director, Center for African Studies Kent State University, Kent, Ohio (USA)
