The ‘two democracies’ and Africa’s burden

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is a common view that democracy is the best form of government. Today, most societies have accepted this view as a truism. In Africa, and consistent with this view, there has been numerous moves towards democratising not just society as whole but also various institutions. Although this push is commendable, the form of democracy that is instantiated in many African nations or societies does not seem to reflect the ‘genuine’ form of democracy. Through conceptual analysis, I explore what may be referred to as the ‘two democracies’ or two forms of democracy, as part of my general discussion of democracy and its problems. One form of democracy is exhausted or captured by the formal elements and the other form by both the ‘formal’ and ‘virtuous’ elements, where the latter may be said to be the genuine form of democracy and the former a ‘pseudo or false’ form. I claim that democracy, as an ideal, contains or embeds elements, which can be understood in terms of the formal and virtuous elements – both of which constitute the necessary and sufficient conditions for democracy. As part of this discussion, I highlight how the failure by African nations to instantiate the ‘genuine’ form of democracy prevents the actualisation of the dividends of democracy. I claim that the problem in many African societies in respect of the practice of democracy seems to be that only the formal elements are emphasised. Ultimately, the conclusion that I gesture towards is that the seeming neglect of virtuous elements may be robbing African states not only of the instrumental benefits of democracy but also the intrinsic benefits of democracy.