Democratic Reform in Africa: The Quality of Progress

Suggesting that optimistic cries of an "African Renaissance" in the latter half of the 1990s may have been a bit overstated, Gyimah-Boadi (political science, U. of Ghana) introduces 11 papers exploring the prospects of African democratic reform. Six thematic chapters review the current state of political and economic reforms, civil society, corruption control, and internal conflict. These are followed by case studies of democracy and development in Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Foreign Affairs

This edited collection provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of democracy in Africa today. The contributors offer evidence of progress but overwhelmingly remind readers that the survival of democracy in Africa faces serious challenges: endemic corruption, the trend toward the regionalization of conflict, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Michael Bratton and Robert Mattes argue that uneven progress toward economic reform may have negative consequences for satisfaction with democracy. Similarly, in the conclusion, Larry Diamond argues that economic success in Africa is impossible without political reform and offers a number of interesting and perhaps controversial policy recommendations to alter the incentives facing African leaders and increase the costs associated with nondemocratic rule. As in most edited volumes, chapters vary in quality, with some offering little more than description and others providing careful analysis and explanations for observed trends.