Rotimi T. Suberu,professor of political science at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, was Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in 2006–2007.
Violence need not be lethal to pose a threat to democracy. Indeed, low-scale violence has proven to be a far more effective means of manipulating elections.
Three decades after sub-Saharan Africa joined the “third wave,” democracy’s ability to endure has been established in many countries, but its quality remains a grave concern.