Democracy in sub-Saharan Africa: Historical Legacies, International Pressures and New Political Challenges

After the end of the Cold War, a new wave of democratization swept across Sub-Saharan Africa. As the one party-state regimes collapsed, democratic transitions took place in almost all African countries. In most cases, however, the outcomes of the democratizations processes have been disappointing. This chapter provides an historical analysis of the processes of democratic transition in Africa, and points to the complex legacy of previous decades of authoritarian rule, the disappointing outcomes of the economic reforms implemented by the national governments and the contradictory agenda of political transformation and economic development pursued by international donors such as the European Union on the continent as the main obstacles to the democratization of the African states.