The right to free and fair elections may be undermined if political parties cannot campaign due to COVID-19 restrictions by the state.
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Articles on Elections in Africa
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Zambia’s new president will have to balance austerity and the high expectations of the many unemployed young people and struggling people who voted for him.
It’s not convincing to argue that the political parties would not be able to campaign as they have done in the past.
Frustration is growing among opposition supporters who believe the last election was stolen.
There is more support for democracy among African people than is often recognised. Yet this can be undermined by election rigging and is lower in countries like Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa.
Angola needs a mixed electoral system. This would promote accountability through the direct election of representatives from constituencies.
Concerns about socioeconomic well-being were the main reason why people voted for a certain political party.
A new government with popular legitimacy will have power to address lingering political, economic and security challenges.
The recent spate of military takeovers, most recently in Chad, highlights a developing trend by armed forces in Africa which overtly subvert constitutional governance.
The international community is opposed to Farmaajo’s term extension because of fears that it’s a power grab consistent with political trends elsewhere in the region.
When he grabbed power in 1990, Déby promised to create a democratic society, but he turned out to be a ruthless authoritarian whose main agenda was to remain in office.
Although polarising, parliament’s move to extend Farmaajo’s term has presented a practical road-map to hold direct elections for the first time since 1969.
He came into office with a reputation for making broken systems work, but as he began his second presidential term John Magufuli became known as a ruthless and ambitious authoritarian.
The legitimacy of SWAPO, the former liberation movement that has governed since 1990, has been eroded amid growing corruption and a deepening economic crisis.
Ethiopia’s party system is extremely volatile due to the prevalence of weakly institutionalised and fragmented political parties.
Although Niger’s quest for entrenching democracy is a good development, poverty and insecurity are obstacles.
The November 2020 local and regional elections have indeed put Namibia’s political culture at a crossroads.
The changes proposed by the initiative are were well-addressed in the country’s 2010 Constitution.
The trouble is that the ANC's branch structure, designed initially as a means of grassroots democracy at work, is in a mess.
President John Magufuli won a second term by a contested landslide and looks set to take even greater control of Tanzania’s democratic space.
Top contributors
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Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham
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Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Lecturer in African History, Queen Mary University of London
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Director of the Leaders of Africa Institute and Research Affiliate with Davidson College, Davidson College
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Senior Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State
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Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria
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Professor in Political Science, University of South Africa
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Director & Research Fellow, University of Pretoria
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Professor of Public Affairs, Tshwane University of Technology
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Fellow, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge; Professor of Development Studies, University of Johannesburg
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Professor of Political Studies, University of Johannesburg
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Associate Professor, International Development Studies; Associate Dean, Menno Simons College, University of Winnipeg
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Director of the Centre for Global Development and Professor in the School of Education, University of Aberdeen
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Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA), University of South Africa
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Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town
