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This article investigates how post-election contestation and transfer-of-power processes affect regime security in Africa compared to the U.S.

June 13, 2026Open Access

Regime security and electoral fragility: African perspectives on post-election contestation and the adoption of U.S. Political models

Key Points

This article investigates how post-election contestation and transfer-of-power processes affect regime security in Africa compared to the U.S.
Comparative analytical model combining institutional process-tracing and cross-national data sets.
Qualitative case analysis focusing on Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Examination of institutional robustness and electoral governance mechanisms.
Variation in institutional robustness and electoral governance capacity observed across examined countries.
Increased polarization in the U.S. contrasted with varying degrees of electoral fragility in Africa.
Institutional buffers are holding steady in the U.S., while Africa's contexts show diverse stability.

Abstract

Elections are the most vulnerable points in the democratic systems, exposing tensions over legitimacy, institutional capacity and regime security. Many African states have adopted aspects of the United States’ democratic model, including presidentialism, but little scholarship has examined these institutions from African perspectives. This article addresses this gap by focusing on post-election contestation, transfer-of-power processes and the institutional conditions under which losers consent or concede defeat. Using a comparative analytical model that combines institutional process-tracing, cross-national data sets and qualitative case analysis, the study compares the mechanisms of electoral stability in the United States with those in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. The findings suggest variation across cases in institutional robustness, electoral governance capacity and elite incentives. Polarization is on the rise in the United States, but institutional buffers appear to be holding steady, while in Africa, electoral fragility varies by context.

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