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Multiparty Elections in Africa: For Better or Worse

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Party Systems and Democracy in Africa

Abstract

Most regimes around the world conduct multiparty elections on a regular basis.1 In contrast with the growing literature on electoral authoritarianism (Levitsky and Way 2002, 2010; Schedler 2006a, 2013), Lindberg (2004, 2006a, 2006b, 2009a, 2009b, 2009c, 2009d, 2009e, 2012) has argued that in Africa, elections are a new mode of democratic transition. While Lindberg’s claim about the democratizing power of elections has since been tested for other regions and from a global perspective (Bunce and Wolchik 2009; McCoy and Hartlyn 2009; Lindberg 2009a; Brownlee 2009b; Roessler and Howard 2009; Teorell and Hadenius 2009; Donno 2013; Kaya and Bernhard 2013), no systematic re-examination of the African evidence exists. This chapter seeks to fill that gap by reevaluating the trend of democratization through elections that Lindberg observed for Africa.

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Authors
  1. Matthijs Bogaards
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK

    Renske Doorenspleet (Associate Professor of Comparative Politics) (Associate Professor of Comparative Politics)

  2. National Assembly of Nigeria and the Netherlands Institute for Multi-Party Democracy, University of Cape Town, South Africa

    Lia Nijzink (Political scientist based in Cape Town) (Political scientist based in Cape Town)

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© 2014 Matthijs Bogaards

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Bogaards, M. (2014). Multiparty Elections in Africa: For Better or Worse. In: Doorenspleet, R., Nijzink, L. (eds) Party Systems and Democracy in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137011718_2

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