African Elections: Two Divergent Trends

Issue Date July 2012
Volume 23
Issue 3
Page Numbers 80-93
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This essay examines the existing variation in democratization trajectories in African states since the early 1990s. In particular, it shows that variations are tightly correlated with the quality of legislative elections. Evidence presented suggests a potential mechanism to explain the “democratization through elections” hypothesis. African states with clean legislative elections also exhibit a trend toward greater democratization. A brief presentation of the cases of Cameroon and Zambia show that legislative empowerment is key to democratization.

About the Author

Kennedy Ochieng’ Opalo is associate professor in Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is the author of Legislative Development in Africa: Politics and Postcolonial Legacies (2019). He is author of the Substack newsletter An Africanist Perspective.

View all work by Kennedy Ochieng’ Opalo

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