Fifth, much work stills needs to be done to strengthen civil society. For example, political parties need to adopt an “orientation of permanence,” rather than being elections-based. That is, political parties need to function and operate on a permanent basis. In turn, this would help to create permanent democratic institutions and processes in the political arena; provide alternative views on public policy; and provide a counterbalance to the regime in power. Also, political parties and the other groups in civil society need to broaden their scope and membership bases, develop internal democratic practices, formulate and pursue pro-people agendas, and work toward economic independence. It is imperative for groups in civil society to address and eventually overcome these challenges. This is because in order for them to help democratize society, they first must be democratized internally. As the old proverb goes, “Charity begins at home.”
Sixth, one of the major remaining problems regarding the democratic crusade in Africa revolves around what Bruce Russett refers to as “consolidating democratic stability.” 6 In the cases of African states that are making the democratic transition, for example—Benin, Malawi, Mali—major challenges still remain, including reconstructing the postcolonial state; institutionalizing political democracy; and addressing the enormous economic and social problems. The neo-colonial state, which Africa inherited from the colonial powers and maintained, cannot be the principal conduit for promoting democratization in the continent. This is because, inter alia, the neo-colonial state is intrinsically and fundamentally undemocratic. It was conceived out of violence, plunder, and exploitation; imposed by brute force; and maintained through the continual use of violence, deception, manipulation, and robbery. Also, democratization needs to be institutionalized through practice and concrete actions. Ordinary citizens must begin to see institutions and processes operate freely and fairly. This will help to develop mass confidence and ultimately lead to the institutionalization of democratization. A central challenge remains the crisis of economic underdevelopment: millions of Africans are unemployed; hundreds of thousands of others are victims of abject poverty, malnutrition, diseases, and misery; and the overall living standards continue to deteriorate.
Seventh, while political democracy is indispensable, the emphasis needs to shift toward holistic democracy. That is, efforts must be made to synergize the cultural, economic, political, and social aspects of democracy. This is critical because political democracy and its emphasis on individual rights and freedoms and structures and processes will not be sufficient to build a durable democratic architecture in Africa. In other words, unless political democracy helps create the conditions that would enable the African peoples to put food on their tables, send their children to school, heal them when they are sick, put roofs over their heads, and have an overall decent standard of living, it would be meaningless. That is, human and civil rights become abstract to ordinary Africans if they do not help to provide basic human needs. This problem is now plaguing all the African states, where democratic elections have been held and the process of democratization has been set into motion. For example, in South Africa, a country where for more than three hundred years the majority African population was exploited, repressed, and marginalized by Dutch merchant capital, British imperialism, and Afrikaans racism, political freedoms have yet to help produce social and economic dividends. Afrikaners still dominate the South African economy, while Africans operate on the periphery. Moreover, the social and economic gulf between Whites and Blacks remains very wide. Clearly, unless political democratization helps lead to economic democratization, the majority of Africans will be apathetic and lose hope.
The United States and the Quest for Democracy in Africa
The United States has had and continues to have a checkered record in terms of its policy on democratization and democracy in Africa. During the “first wave of democratization in Africa,” the United States supported self-determination for the African peoples who were under the yoke of European colonialism. The centerpiece of the American “Wilsonian-based” policy was that the peoples of Africa have the right to determine their own destinies and to build democratic systems. However, the American policy had an embedded “dosage of self-interest”: given the changes in the post-World War II global configuration of power, especially its new status as a superpower, the United States was desirous of establishing its influence in the African continent. Specifically, the United States wanted access to Africa’s vast natural resources, markets and cheap labor. Clearly, European colonialism and its attendant rigid control made it impossible for the United States to gain such access.
During the “second wave,” the United States was a major obstacle to democratization and democracy in Africa. This was reflected in its provision of economic, military, and political support for some of the most repressive regimes in Kenya, Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan, and Zaire. Also, the United States was instrumental in providing the “oxygen” that kept apartheid well and alive in South Africa.
Interestingly, since the end of the Cold War, and the beginning of the “third wave of democratization,” the United States has made a shift in its policy on democratization and democracy in Africa. One of the resultant effects has been abandoning some of its client regimes such as Mohamed Siad Barre (Somalia), Samuel Kanyon Doe (Liberia), Daniel arap Moi (Kenya), and Mobutu Sese Seko (Zaire). 7 Similarly, the United States continues to encourage its other client regimes in Africa—Hosni Mubarak (Egypt) and so on—to democratize. In short, the new refrain in American policy has become “democratic enlargement” and “constructing civil society.” 8 Why has the United States shifted its policy? With the end of the Cold War, it has become increasingly difficult for the United States to justify its continual support for authoritarianism in the name of “national interest and security.”
The United States has formulated several programs to help foster democratization and democracy in Africa. For example, under the National Endowment for Democracy, grants are awarded to various groups in civil society to help promote political democracy. Economic assistance packages are being given to various African States through the United States Agency for International Development. In the social and cultural arenas, there are various programs designed to train African legislators, journalists and other opinion makers in the practice of political democracy.
Despite the positive strides in American policy, there are still some inconsistencies reminiscent of the Cold War. For example, the United States continues to support the authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, with a flow of about $3 billion in economic and military assistance annually. Clearly, the Mubarak regime remains resistant to democratization and democracy. For example, in the political arena, it has transformed Egypt into a de facto one-party state. During the so-called “Presidential Election” in 1999, Mubarak was the only candidate on the ballot. 9 This is a major violation of one of the major contours of political democracy: voters should have the right to freely choose among candidates representing various political parties and independent candidacies in regular and free elections. U.S. support for the authoritarian Mubarak regime is anchored on old Cold War geo-strategic considerations; thus, the promotion of democracy is secondary.
Despite the optimism for building democracy in Africa, especially for transplanting the American model of democracy in the continent, there are still major hurdles to cross. In a booklet entitled Democracy: America, the World and the Future, the Center for University Programs at the University of Virginia provides a synopsis of the lacunas:
Yet, disappointments in the actual practice of democracy, and concerns over its viability both in America and around the world, raise questions for the future. Conflict, opposition, inadequate resources and cultural differences still appear at the approach of the new century, along with many other forces that frustrate democratic development.10 The Focus of the Book
The central concern of the book is to address four interrelated issues. First, what has been the role of the United States in the democratic struggles in Africa? In other words, has United States policy helped or hindered the promotion of democratization and democracy in Africa?
Second, what has been and is the impact of the American democratic system on the African diaspora? In other words, how has the American democratic model affected peoples of African descent in the Caribbean and the Americas (including the United States)?
Third, against the backdrop of the end of the Cold War, what is the feasibility of establishing democracy, especially the American variant, in Africa? Can the American liberal democratic system and its associated structures and processes be transplanted to Africa? If yes, what can the United States do to help this process succeed?
Fourth, what is the state of democratization and democracy in Africa? That is, are African countries making the transition from authoritarianism to democracy in Africa? What is the preliminary assessment?
Methodology
The data for the book were collected from three major sources: archival sources, interviews, and participant observation. In the case of archival sources, data were collected from various libraries in the United States and archives in some African states.
Interviews were conducted with Africans living both on the continent and in the diaspora between January 1998 and February 2000. In addition, one of the authors participated in an International Conference on Constitutionalism in Africa at Makerere University, Uganda, in October 1999 and used the occasion to interview leading African scholars and politicians; he also attended the World Model United Nations Conference in Greece in March 2000, where he interviewed both intellectuals and policymakers. The interviews were designed to gauge respondents’ positions on the twin issues of democracy and transplanting the American model of democracy to Africa.
Using participant observation, we immersed ourselves in various African and African American communities in the African countries and the United States. Two of the authors worked as civil servants—communications expert and economist-lawyer in Africa in the 1980s—and the other as an educator-historian in the United States. Because of their practical professional experiences in Africa and the United States, the authors were able to understand the problems surrounding the evolution and application of democracy in the global African community. Thus, the purpose was to make an assessment regarding the crusade for democratization and democracy in general, and the potential impact of American style-democracy in particular, in African countries.
In terms of approach, the book combines the use of the historical and policy methods. Specifically, it attempts to examine the development over time of the democratic struggle in Africa and the role of the United States. This approach is influenced by our belief that systems and their associated institutions and processes evolved over time. Hence, in order to comprehend current trends, we must assess the record over time. The policy method is intended to provide prescriptions. That is, we believe that it is not enough to simply chronicle and analyze the perennial problems of the democratic enterprise in Africa; but rather, it is equally important to offer some prescriptions with the intent of helping to contribute to both the debate and the practical operation of democracy.
The data from the three data sources were compared to help to ensure their reliability. The results were then used to develop the various chapters in the book.
Organization
The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1, the introduction, provides an overview of the crusade for democratization and democracy in Africa using three cycles: the first, second, and third waves. Despite the “democratic optimism” that has enveloped Africa, the chapter outlines some of the major conundrums that are being experienced in the “Third Wave.” Also, the chapter surveys the role of the United States in the struggle for democratization and democracy in Africa. Specifically, it examines the checkered record of United States policy on democracy in Africa, beginning with the colonial period. The chapter closes with an outline of the research questions around which the book revolves and the methodology used to address these questions.
Chapter 2 examines the impact of American democracy, especially public policies, on African communities in the diaspora. Specifically, it attempts to evaluate the utility of the American system of democracy in the African experience. It draws from the experiences of people of African descent in the United States, the rest of the Americas, and the Caribbean.
Chapter 3 assesses the opportunities and constraints that are inherent in the transfer of the American liberal democratic model to Africa. Specifically, it evaluates the tenets and dynamics of the American democratic system, and probes their strengths and weaknesses and the feasibility of their application to the African environment.
Chapter 4 addresses the socioeconomic dimensions of democracy in Africa. Specifically, it examines the performance of the postcolonial African state in the promotion of political democracy and economic development.
Chapter 5 evaluates the influence of American democracy in the areas of public policy and communication. Specifically, it assesses the ways the American model influences both the formation and the substantive content of public policies and communication.
Chapter 6 examines the state of democratization in African countries. Using various indices of the American democratic model, the chapter evaluates the political performance of African states.
Conclusion
The Epilogue concludes the book. It summarizes our assessment of the idea of building democracy—American democracy in Africa in the twenty-first century. Based on the scholarship presented herein, American democracy will prevail, and dictatorship will dissipate given the cultural, economic, and political construct of Africa.
Notes
6 Bruce Russett, “A Community of Peace and Democracy, Interdependence and International Organization,” in The Global Agenda: Issues and Perspectives, ed. Charles Kegley and Eugene Wittkopf (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998), 245.
7 Mobutu Sese Seko was born Joseph Désiré Mobutu on October 14, 1930. He took his African name in January 1972: Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, “The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake.” “Mobutu Sese Seko,” Britannica.com, (Chicago, IL: Britannica.com Inc., 1999-2000), http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/6/0,5716,54446+1+53119,00.html.
8 Center for University Programs, University of Virginia, Democracy: America, the World, and the Future (Charlottesville, Va.: the Center, 1999), 1.
9 CNN World News, 26 September 1999.
Center for University Programs, 1.
© December 2000 Edward Lama Wonkeryor, Ella Forbes, James S. Guseh, George Klay Kieh Jr.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by electronic or mechanical means except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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