How People View Democracy: Africans’ Surprising Universalism

Issue Date January 2001
Volume 12
Issue 1
Page Numbers 107-121
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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 12, Issue 3

Francophone Africa in Flux: Mali’s Decade of Democracy

Since 1992, Mali has managed to preserve its democracy in the face of great odds. Continued vigilance will be needed, however, to prevent the gains of the past decade from…

Volume 18, Issue 3

The Institutionalization of Political Power in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has been traditionally depicted as a place where formal institutional rules are largely irrelevant-yet in the past fifteen years these rules have come to matter, and this trend…

Volume 15, Issue 2

Change in Uganda: A New Opening?

The decision by Uganda’s leaders to abandon the country’s “movement” system and adopt multiparty pluralism creates a significant opportunity for democratic progress.