Democracy and Autocracy in Africa

Contrary to the widespread claims of democratic regression in sub-Saharan Africa, our research on democratic processes reveals a different reality. We have found that the region's democratic journey over the past two decades has largely remained stagnant, with no significant advancements or setbacks in terms of political and civil liberties since the initial transitions in the early 1990s. However, this apparent lack of progress in African democratization masks the active efforts of incumbent leaders to undermine key actors, such as civil society, and structural conditions, such as urbanization, that could potentially lead to greater liberalization. To explain the uneven progress in democratization, despite increased political participation across the region, we argue that Africa's incumbent leaders have employed two often overlooked processes: legal institutions and international relationships. Firstly, these leaders have utilized the law and courts to restrict the ability of domestic actors to mobilize against them. By strategically using the law to consolidate their power and strengthen executive authority, they have undermined other institutional checks and balances. Secondly, incumbent leaders have effectively manipulated their international relationships to counteract the democratizing influence of external actors, including foreign donors and transnational civil society. This manipulation includes employing claims of sovereignty to resist external intervention in domestic politics.