Abstract This keynote address challenges dominant narratives of democratic decline by arguing that, while Western liberal democratic forms may be under strain, democracy itself is evolving in Africa. It contends that formal constitutional architecture—elections, courts, and legislatures—often persists even as substantive democratic content is hollowed out. Against this backdrop, the address advances a conception of democracy rooted in legal empowerment: the capacity of ordinary citizens to understand, use, and shape the law. Drawing on contemporary African political developments and grassroots legal practices, it argues that democratic resilience depends less on institutional form than on the extent to which citizens experience law as accessible and responsive. The address further suggests that African constitutional traditions—particularly the recognition of social welfare as a fundamental duty of the state—offer a deeper vision of democracy than procedural models alone. It concludes by proposing that Africa’s democratic future lies not in replicating external models but in developing locally grounded systems of justice that prioritize dignity, participation, and everyday encounters with the law.
R. A. Atuguba (Wed,) studied this question.