Routledge Handbook of Democratization in Africa.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Information -- Table of contents -- Illustrations -- List of Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Democracy in practice-diversity and complexity -- The significance of elections -- The role of institutions -- Diverse actors -- Democracy and "the people" -- Conclusion: democratic realities -- Notes -- References -- Part I The politics and paths of regime development -- 1 Neopatrimonialism and democracy -- Democracy with one adjective -- Neopatrimonial democracy? -- Measuring neopatrimonialism -- How neopatrimonial are African regimes? -- Regional trends -- Variation across African countries -- Neopatrimonialism across regime types -- Does neopatrimonialism constrain democracy? -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 2 Pathways to democracy -- Approaches to path dependency -- The 1990s as a critical juncture -- Transitions reevaluated -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 3 Post-conflict democratization and power-sharing -- Setting the contexts -- The problems of power-sharing -- Elite-centrism -- Sidelining of political parties -- Unintended consequences of both temporary and permanent power-sharing -- Creation of perverse incentives to engage violently in politics -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 4 The impact of foreign aid -- The conditional political impacts of foreign aid -- Foreign aid as incumbency support -- The rise of democracy assistance -- The decline and fall of political conditionality -- Towards neo-modernization theory? -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 Natural resources -- Conceptualizing the oil-politics nexus -- Oil politics in Nigeria -- The militarization of oil politics in the Niger Delta -- Oil politics and civil society -- Conclusion -- References -- Part II Institutional dynamics -- 6 Federalism and devolution -- The promise of decentralization.

The decentralization experiment in Africa -- Decentralization undermined -- Political interference with decentralization -- Decentralization to recentralize power -- Ethnicizing the polity -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 7 The struggle for presidential term limits -- Evolution of term limits -- The effects of presidential term limits on African politics -- The campaigns against term limits -- Arguments for removing term limits -- Outcomes of the efforts to remove term limits -- The future of term limits in Africa -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 8 Executive power and horizontal accountability -- Horizontal accountability -- Insights on horizontal accountability -- Benin -- Ghana -- Liberia -- Malawi -- The way forward on executive power and horizontal accountability -- Note -- References -- 9 The politics of legislative development -- Colonial origins of territorial legislatures -- Making imported legislatures work under autocracy -- African legislatures since 1990 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 10 Judicial power -- The mixed record of African judiciaries -- Perspectives on the empowerment of African courts -- External accounts: formal rules and political strategy -- Internal accounts: judicial strategy and norms -- Towards a historical understanding of judicial power -- Thinking about judges, off-bench activities, and informal networks -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 11 Militaries -- The military's role in launching democratization -- Democratization by coup? -- Democratization by defection? -- Civil-military pathologies in fledgling African democracies -- Continued coup threat -- Faustian bargains -- Authoritarian legacies -- Democratic consolidation and the challenge of reform -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 12 Electoral administration -- The origins and diffusion of electoral management bodies in Africa.

Electoral bodies in Africa: types and impact on democratization -- Classifying electoral bodies -- Electoral bodies and democratization: case studies -- Electoral bodies in their environment -- Côte d'Ivoire 2010: organizing presidential elections in a violent political context -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Part III Political mobilization and voting dynamics -- 13 Voting behavior -- How do voters decide? -- Ethnicity -- Preferences and transaction costs -- Ethnic cues -- Testing and measuring ethnic voting -- Performance and policy -- Retrospective evaluations -- Prospective evaluations -- Testing and measuring performance voting -- Data and methodology -- Quantitative analyses -- Experimental analyses -- Qualitative analyses -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 14 Clientelism -- The many faces of clientelism -- Brokers and networks in political clientelism -- Democratization and the need to look beyond vote buying -- Patronage and prebendalism in emerging African democracies -- Overcoming clientelism: deliberation, information, and institutions -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 15 Campaign strategies -- The actors -- Types of campaign strategies -- Campaign rallies -- Door-to-door canvassing -- Interactions with community leaders and organizations -- Campaign advertising through new and traditional media -- "Vote buying" and clientelism -- Violence and voter intimidation -- Communication strategies -- Incumbent versus opposition party strategies -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 16 Political parties and party systems -- Party system characteristics -- Fragmentation -- Institutionalization -- Polarization -- The reliability of flexible party systems -- Party typologies and the persistence of the ethnic narrative -- Prospects of programmatic political parties in Africa -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References.

17 Opposition coalitions -- Why coalesce? -- Coalitions literature in established democracies -- Coalitions literature in Africa -- Electoral systems -- Ethnicity -- Methodological considerations -- Coalitions and democratization in Africa -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 18 The use of electoral violence -- Measuring electoral violence -- Measurement issues -- Causes: root and proximate -- The electoral cycle and violence -- The pre-election period -- The election period -- The post-election period -- Effectiveness of election violence and consequences for democratic development -- Preventing electoral violence -- Changing attitudes -- Reinforcing institutional capacity -- Election monitoring -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Part IV The politics of identity -- 19 Christianity and democracy -- The mission churches: the push for multiparty democracy and beyond -- Political engagement by Pentecostals -- Political actors embrace Pentecostal language and rituals -- Pentecostals in the political sphere -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 20 Islam and democracy -- Perceptions of Islam and democracy in Africa -- Do Muslims support democracy? -- Islam, secularism, and legacies of state control -- "Democratizing" the Muslim public sphere or promoting radicalization? -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 21 Gender politics -- Political liberalization and women's role in politics -- Regime type and women's descriptive representation -- Beyond the legislature -- Competitive elections and persistent barriers to gender parity -- Political party bias and candidate selection -- Socioeconomic status -- Sociocultural norms -- Quotas and substantive representation for women in African democracies -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 22 Ethnic politics -- Understanding and measuring ethnic politics -- The political salience of ethnic identities.

Limitations of non-ethnic mobilization strategies -- The appeal of ethnic mobilization -- Variation in ethnic politics across Africa -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 23 Generational dynamics and youth politics -- Youth, nationalism, and postcolonial politics -- Incorporating the youth into democracy -- The impact(s) of youth incorporation -- The youth and political party growth -- Promoting democratic quality -- Human rights -- Equality/inclusion -- Accountability -- Responsiveness -- Participation -- Marginalized youth, popular politics, and the threat of violence -- Youth, protests, and deeper accountability -- The dangers of violence -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Part V Social forces from below -- 24 Public opinion and democratic legitimacy -- Do Africans want democracy? -- Cross-national variation -- What do Africans understand as "democracy"? -- Open-ended questions -- Closed-ended questions -- Forced choices among proffered definitions -- Where does demand for democracy come from? -- Demand for democracy over time -- Do Africans think they are getting democracy? -- Dissatisfied democrats -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 25 Civil society -- Civil society and the democratization of Africa: revisiting the 1990s -- Civil society in the contemporary context -- Does civil society matter? -- The limits of civil society -- The meta critique remains -- Ongoing conceptual and analytical challenges -- Some pathways forward -- Conclusion -- References -- 26 Digital media, networked spaces, and politics -- Digital media and citizen engagement -- Critiquing Africa's digital media and network spaces -- State response to the politics of cyberspace -- Conclusion -- References -- 27 Popular protest and accountability -- The third wave of protest in Africa -- Pitfalls of interpreting contemporary African protests.

Revolutions without revolutionaries?.

This volume explores the issues and debates surrounding the ongoing processes of democratization in sub-Saharan Africa, illuminating the central dynamics characterizing Africa's democratic experiments, and considering the connections between democratization and economic, social, and cultural developments on the continent.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.