Revisiting elections in Africa.

Any analysis of elections in Africa over recent periods has to be placed within the wider debate about democracy and its application in Africa. Democracy, of course, can be a ‘learned trade’ over time, yet certain critical factors affect electoral efficacy and political reform. (See Box 1) Over 200 elections have taken place in Africa between 1989 and 2009, in certain countries, for the first time. The dynamics of those early elections were important as democracy needed to develop at a local level, particularly in authoritarian or transitional states in which the general population often had very little interaction with national political processes or leaders. Results were mixed, while South Africa moved forward from the apartheid years, Zimbabwe, for example, has flouted electoral principles. It is clear that elections themselves arouse contention and conflict within states. In the early 2000s Cote d’Ivoire experienced civil strife following divisive elections; in 2007/2008 Kenya experienced upheaval in the wake of contested elections.