Mitigating the impact of democratic recession through electoral assistance in Africa

ABSTRACTRecent reports demonstrate a global decline in democracy and a resurgence of authoritarianism, with subsequent state capture, a return to autocracy and a rise in patrimonial power. The weakening of the political institutions that sustain the overall democratic system, the rigging of elections, and the reduction of liberties are other factors linked to this reported democratic recession. Along with such regression in democracy, there has been a long-term decline in popular faith in elections. These elements of democratic decline have occurred across Africa, in both transitional and stable democracies. Several levers are available to remedy the impact of this regressive trend, including electoral assistance. This article reflects on the role that electoral assistance could play in mitigating democratic recession and enhancing electoral integrity in Africa. It also outlines the necessary multidimensionality of electoral assistance for more substantial results.KEYWORDS: Democracydemocratic backslidingelectionelectoral assistanceelectoral management bodiestechnical assistance Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 International IDEA, Global Report on The State of Democracy: Building Resilience in a Pandemic Era: Annual Report, 2021. https://www.idea.int/gsod/sites/default/files/2021-11/the-global-state-of-democracy-2021_1pdf2 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/all-democracy-global-america-cant-shrink-fight-freedom-larry-diamond3 E Gyimah-Boadi, ‘Africa’s Waning Democratic Commitment,’ Journal of Democracy 26, no. 1 (2015): 101-13.4 https://theconversation.com/what-caused-the-coup-in-niger-an-expert-outlines-three-driving-factors-2107215 International IDEA, Global Report on the State of Democracy: Forcing Social Contract in a Time of Discontent.https://idea.int/democracytracker/sites/default/files/2022-11/the-global-state-of-democracy-2022.pdf6 See Jaysim Hanspal, ‘The temptations of third-termism’, The Africa Report, 3 February 2023, https://www.theafricareport.com/277872/the-temptations-of-third-termism/. In Sudan, General Al-Burhan's decision to take control of the Sovereign Council on 21 August 2021 has revived the pro-democracy demonstrations. Despite the repression, the desire to see the military hand over power to an elected government remains strong among the population. Other examples include the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2016 and 2018; Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea Conakry in 2020 and more recently Senegal.7 The ACE Project is an initiative of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa. See https://aceproject.org/8 Therese Pearce Laanela and al., Supporting Election Effectively: Principles and Practice of Electoral Assistance: Report to the Expert Group for Aid (Sweden, EBA Report, 2021:05), 18.9 The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, 2005. See also the Accra Agenda for Action, 2008.10 Therese Pearce Laanela and al., Supporting Elections Effectively: Principles and Practice of Electoral Assistance, Report to the Expert Group for Aid (Sweden, EBA Report, 2021:05), 18.11 Susan D Hyde, The Pseudo-Democrat's Dilemma: Why Election Observation Became an International Norm. Cornell University Press, 2011.12 https://aceproject.org/ace-en/focus/focus-on-effective-electoral-assistance/brief-history-of-electoral-assistance-2013-three-leading-actors/mobile_browsing/onePag.13 Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve, (Washington, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999).14 The National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute are also intervening in providing technical support to electoral stakeholders, mostly political parties.15 Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) is a modular professional development program with a particular focus on electoral processes.16 ‘The Union recognizes the rights, freedoms, and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7 December 2000’.17 See, Strengthening the role of the United Nations in enhancing periodic and genuine elections and the promotion of democratization.18 Strengthening the role of the United Nations in promoting periodic and fair elections and democratisation, Report by the Secretary-General, 3 August 2021.19 Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.20 United Nations Security Council, Report of the Secretary General on United Nations Support Mission in Libya, S/2012/675.21 Anna Lührmann, United Nations electoral assistance: More than a fig leaf?, International Political Science Review, 1-16, 2018.22 Anna Lührmann, United Nations electoral assistance: More than a fig leaf, International Political Science Review, 1-16, 2018.23 Programme d’Appui à l’organisation des élections présidentielles et des Gouverneurs des iles en Union des Comores.24 The 2013 electoral process has been conducted within the framework of a political agreement under the supervision of the international community through support to key electoral stakeholders including the transitional electoral commission, the special electoral court, the media regulation body and civil society organisations … 25 The European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) identified 13 and 305 appeals respectively for the first and second round of the presidential election in 2018.26 In addition to security commitment, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Central African Republic assisted the national electoral authority and the constitutional court in organising the electoral process.27 The efforts made by civil society have been recognised by the Economic Commission for Africa and the sub-regional development centre for Central Africa. https://wwww.uneca.org28 www.eisa.org29 The project, referred to as PRISME, was funded by the European Union and implemented with the technical support of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA). www.eisa.org30 https://lequotidien.cd/2eme-anniversaire-des-jonaref-les-osc-beneficiaires-du-prisme-evaluent-leur-parcours31 In this regard, it is worth mentioning the Election Observation Group (ELOG), whose results from the parallel vote tabulation published on 16 August matched the results announced by the IEBC. http://elog.or.ke32 https://www.theguardian.com and https://www.reuters.com33 Sarah Birch, ‘Electoral malpractice and post-electoral protest in Africa,’ Journal of Democracy 30, no. 4 (2019): 138-52, 2019.34 Inken Von Borzyskowski, ‘Resisting Democracy Assistance: Who seeks and receives technical election assistance?’ Revue International Organ 11 (2016): 247-82.35 https://ohchr.org36 African Union Election Observation Mission to Zambia, Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections, 12 August 2021 https://au.int>files>reports37 https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/foreign-aid-surges-due-to-spending-on-refugees-and-aid-for-ukraine.htm38 Anna Lührmann, United Nations electoral assistance: More than a fig leaf?, International Political Science Review, 1-16, 2018.39 The basket fund is made up of funds provided by various donors in support of an electoral process. It is usually managed and administered by the UNDP through the Electoral Support Project.40 The reports issued by EU and local EOM all outlined the poor quality of those processes and the political context as well, which was at the time marked by violent protests and the disruption of the political dialogue between the governments and political actors from the opposition. http://www.guinee-plurielle.com and http://www.eods.eu41 Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington DC, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999), 304.42 Thomas Carothers, Benjamin Press, Understanding and Responding to Global Democratic Backsliding (Washington, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 2022).43 UNDP, Independent Evaluation Office Lessons Learned from Evaluations: UNDP Support for Electoral Processes http://web.undp.org44 Joerg Forbid and Pavol Demeš, Civic Action and Democracy Power Shifts: On strategies and Resources in Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe (Washington DC, German Marshall Fund, 2007), 176. https://www.gmfus.org/publication45 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, Articles 27 and 28.46 In addition to its missions deployed in most of the countries within the sub-region, ECONEC has contributed to expertise and materials sharing. Thus, the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC Ghana), which provided technical support to its counterpart in Liberia, or the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, which worked with many other commissions in the region (Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, etc.), or the one in Togo, which provided Burkina Faso with ballot boxes.47 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, art. 1748 While the article 3.5 expands on the separation of power, and the article 5 on appropriate measures to be taken by State Parties, the article 15 is clear regarding State Parties’ obligation to establish public institutions that promote and support democracy and constitutional order.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by IEC SA 10.13039/501100006670 SA.Notes on contributorsBaïdessou SoukolguéBaïdessou Soukolgué is the Executive Director of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA). He has more than fifteen years of experience in the field of institutional capacity building and electoral assistance. He has coordinated various support programmes for civil society organisations, political parties and parliaments in the fields of elections and democratic governance in Chad, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Niger. He has accompanied and supported expert or election observation missions of the African Union and other sub-regional organisations in numerous African countries and has provided a range of expertise to various partners of EISA. He has published or contributed to various articles for the use by political parties and civil society. He has degrees in law, political science, project management and international relations.