Said the Afrobarometer: The bad and good news comes in almost daily.
Increasingly authoritarian regimes clamp down on dissent in Tanzania and Zambia, and Togo’s Gnassingbe dynasty teeters as its opponents are bloodied in the streets. But democratic elections carried the day in the Gambia, where strongman Yahya Jammeh was forced to cede power without a shot being fired — and in Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf respected term limits and passed the torch.
Meanwhile, in Uganda, Afro-beat pop star Bobi Wine has become a symbol for popular resistance and could threaten Yoweri Museveni’s three-decade rule.
In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appears to be leading change with breathtaking speed, while Zimbabweans still wait — and demonstrate — for the democracy they were promised after Robert Mugabe was forced to step down.
What’s going on with democracy in Africa?
The research network Afrobarometer finds some answers in its latest analysis, based on face-to-face interviews with more than 45,000 Africans in 34 countries.
The wide-ranging interviews, conducted with nationally representative samples between late 2016 and late 2018, covered more than two dozen questions on democracy, elections and political freedoms.
Most Africans still say they want democracy. Fewer are getting the democracy they want. And even fewer insist enough on improving their democracies that they’re likely to help their nations guard against authoritarian backsliding.
Let’s look more closely at the numbers. A strong majority of Africans — fully 68 percent — think democracy is the best system of government.
Even larger majorities object to various forms of authoritarianism: 78 percent oppose presidential dictatorships, 74 percent oppose one-party rule and 72 percent object to military rule.
About four out of 10 Africans, or 42 percent, “demand democracy,” meaning they hold all four of these pro-democratic views at the same time.
These committed democrats are most likely to be found among urban residents, men, and people who have middle-class jobs, a university education, a strong interest in politics, and a habit of reading newspapers and using the Internet.