Democratization in Late Twentieth-Century Africa: Coping with Uncertainty

Gros, Jean-Germain (ed.). Democratization in Late Twentieth-Century Africa: Coping with Uncertainty. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. 176 pp.

The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the implosion of the former Soviet Union, and the rapid embrace of democracy in these areas have also triggered similar interest in Africa and elsewhere. Indeed, the end of the Cold War created a new political effervescence in the African continent which whetted the intellectual appetite of Africanists, particularly students of democracy and politics. The outpouring of scholarly articles and books, addressing the various genres of democratic movements and developments in Africa, have come to the fore following this epoch. Even military juntas have not only embraced democracy, but some of its retired cadres have also undergone democratic baptism-participating as candidates in democratic elections. Added to this dimension is the rapid globalization of the international economy.1 In a way, democracy has become the vogue in much of Africa..

It is within this framework that Jean-Germain Gros' book, Democratization in Late Twentieth-Century Africa: Coping with Uncertainty, may be visualized. This book is not a path-breaking work in the current literature, and democratic metamorphoses in Africa, as the author correctly contends. In fact, the author states: "Indeed, there is much to be found here that some might consider iconoclastic, perhaps even heretical. This is good. The pursuit of knowledge requires occasional controversies out of which new insights and wisdom may emerge" (p. viii). I concur with his views especially as it has become increasingly clear that Africanists, and African scholars in particular, are searching, diligently, for culturally relevant solutions to African social, religious and political problems. In this regard, some are suggesting a strategy that the Chinese have sometimes referred to as the policy of walking-on-two legs.2 This approach implies combining relevant Western values with traditional African norms in concocting culturally germane democratic style of government.

Chapter one provides a paradigm within which the book might be comprehended. In this regard the author situates the very character of democracy, with respect to the countries examined, on three pillars : leadership, society and international community (pp. 4-14). The interplay of these variables or levels of analysis are crucial in the development (or lack thereof) of democracy in each country.

In chapters two through eight the democratic transitions of a number of countries are examined by different scholars within the context of the three levels of analysis enunciated by the author. These scholars-a majority of them Africans-provided a unique analysis of the country of their investigation.

Sam A. Mchombo, in "Democratization in Malawi: Its Roots and Prospects," provides a lucid description of the battle for democracy in Malawi. The snail's pace in the democratization enterprise, he contends, is attributable to the leadership genre of Dr. Kamuzu Banda. Indeed, Banda was Malawi and Malawi was Banda just as Franco was Spain and Spain was Franco by way of comparison. But in order to perpetuate his lust for power as president-for-life, Banda relied on Kadzamira and Tembo (p.25). Banda and these political actors provided the super-structure on which the regime flourished. They also provided the bulwark against any democratic opening. In the end, it was the activities of the church, underground media (p. 28-31 ) and the international community that led to multiparty democracy in that republic.

In chapter three, "Cameroon: A Flawed Transition to Democracy," Tatah Mentan describes Cameroonian politics within the framework of Weberian doctrine of social closure whereby social or ethnic groups establish monopolies in order to avoid contestation with rival groups that could be harmful to the group (i.e., the monopolizer).3 Ahidjo and Biya were adept at this practice. They used geo-ethnic politics to mitigate the blooming of "genuine" democracy in the republic. They also attempted to silence major democratic voices in the polity. For instance, when a sovereign national conference, which would have allowed the various collectivities in Cameroon to discuss the character of the state and how it should be governed was brought up, Biya's response was similar to that of General Sani Abacha of Nigeria. He said: Je l'ai dit et je le maintiens: la conference nationale est sans objet pour le Cameroun (I have said it, and I insist; a national conference is pointless for Cameroon) (p. 45). Moreover, the ethnic manipulations in the electoral process,4 economic stagnation and constitutional tinkering are strategies applied by the Biya regime to stay in power (pp. 48-52).

In chapter four, Julius Ihonvbere deals with "Nigeria: Militarization and Perpetual Transition." Ihonvbere situates the Nigerian democratic crisis on the military and political class whose major concern is that of controlling the national treasury rather than providing good governance to the country (p. 60). The tortuous path to democracy in the republic has been referred to as "transition without transition." This is so because the process has often been manipulated by the military plutocrats so that they could stay in power ad infinitum in one guise or another (pp. 63-68). Not even economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure from the international community were sufficient to induce the country to democratize (p. 71). In the end, concludes Ihonvbere, democratic consolidation in the country suffers.