Africa's Electoral Systems and Their Impact on Promoting Democratic Governance and Development

Introduction

Democratic elections are the lifeblood of any democracy, especially liberal representative forms of governance. For Heywood (2013), elections are the heart of the political process, although not sufficient for a condition for political representation. Over the decades, fair elections have been associated with democratic means of giving citizens a voice in the governance of the nations. Democratic governments, especially in Africa, have witnessed in recent years that political office was contested through democratic elections, thus meeting “a minimalist electoral definition of democracy” according to Schumpeter (1976, p. 260). In this sense, electoral democracy has become a platform for the competitive struggle for people's votes and a determining factor to elect political representatives. Beyond this minimalist criteria, electoral democracy has been envisaged as an instrument to ensure the quality of democratic accountability and state responsiveness (Diamond, 2002). In the case of party dominance, elections were used as ‘window dressing’ for incumbent parties to stay in power indefinitely (Baldwin, 2010, p. 295).

Electoral disputes over rigging or allegations of rigging are common in Africa, and that engenders fragmentation and Africa’s vulnerability due to lack of integrated governance and cohesion (Kornegay & Mthembu, 2020). Unsolved disputes have led to civil unrest, with the loss of lives, especially for ordinary people. Democratic unrests gave way to political violence, which in most African nations continues to undermine the rule of law and democratic good governance. These electoral challenges, together with already economic decline, healthcare, educational systems, high unemployment and insecure livelihoods, add strains to most African societies (Honwana, 2013). This is further exacerbated by prevailing politics of inequality and exclusion, ethnic diversity and identities (Huber, 2017). More often, politicians have used ethnic politics to target voters for inclusion or exclusion, with the ultimate purpose of building electoral coalition and cooperation (Huber, 2017). However, it is sad that ethnic electoral politics has led to further ethnic divisions and electoral violence, as well as civil wars in most parts of Africa (Doyle & Sambanis, 2006 cited in Huber, 2017).

This chapter analyses democratic electoral systems and their impact on advancing democratic governance and development in Africa. The chapter takes into account social-economic and ethnic politics, and diversity, as factors in African electoral politics. Thus, denial and exclusion of the majority to full citizenship and democratic governance during the colonial and apartheid regimes have not only led to civil wars, but also saw divisions among electorates. The chapter uses country-based case studies to demonstrate the importance of the electoral democratic system in fostering democratic good governance and development in Africa.