How People View Democracy: Africans’ Surprising Universalism

Issue Date January 2001
Volume 12
Issue 1
Page Numbers 107-121
file Print
arrow-down-thin Download from Project MUSE
external View Citation

Read the full essay here.

Although Africa is a latecomer to democratization, Africans overwhelmingly support democracy, and their conception of democracy is surprisingly liberal.

About the Authors

Michael Bratton

Michael Bratton is University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies at Michigan State University. He is a founder of the Afrobarometer and the author of Public Opinion, Democracy, and Markets in Africa (2005).

View all work by Michael Bratton

Robert Mattes

Robert Mattes is professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and a founding member of Afrobarometer.

View all work by Robert Mattes

Further Reading

Volume 8, Issue 2

Can Africa Develop?

A review of Development and Democracy in Africa, by Claude Ake.

Volume 22, Issue 4

Nigeria Votes: More Openness, More Conflict

Nigeria’s 2011 presidential election offered its citizens the most competitive and transparent contest in decades, but also the bloodiest.

Volume 9, Issue 1

Consolidation and Public Opinion in South Africa

Read the full essay here.