Frontiers of Liberal and Non-Liberal Democracy in Tropical Africa

Africa's present circumstances of economic adversity may offer new opportunities for democratization, as a result of the decline of state direction of economies, a rise of class-based pluralism and the use of legal-institutional means for criticisms and participation. This paper investigates the responses to economic decline of a sampling of African political commentators, 1980-1985, and reports of the uses of institutional means of participation, 1981-1986. A survey of the evidence from three countries reveals no certain pattern, but suggests the emergence of practices of "diarchy"-tension-laden cooperation-between party and government and between courts and administration.