Michael Wahman writing in Democracy in Africa:
A couple of decades of African multipartyism have firmly established that democracy is more than formally democratic elections. Although the electoral revolution of the 1990s drastically expanded political competition, incumbent regimes around Africa have maintained a variety of tools to tilt the electoral playing field and minimize the real political risks associated with multiparty elections. Some elections have featured blatant and overt forms of manipulation, such as violence, intimidation or ballot stuffing. More frequently, however, and to an increasing extent, manipulation has been subtler. Voter rolls have been bloated, the media has been biased and state resources have been systematically used for incumbent campaigning. Electoral manipulation has severely curbed electoral competition.More here
The fact that executive electoral turnovers have been lower in Africa than on any other continent is testament to the general unfairness of African elections. But does that mean that when, against all the odds, electoral turnovers do happen, democratisation accelerates?
