Globally, democracy has been waning over the past two decades, marked by a rise of illiberal states, the deterioration of political and civil rights, and a fall in global voter turnout, according to multiple democracy tracking reports. African countries are no exception to this trend, even as democracy remains the preferred form of governance for most citizens and voter participation remains relatively high. Yet aggregate trends mask the significant divergences in democratic trajectories across the continent’s 54 countries.
Analyzing diverse democratization trends such as these was a major focus of the Africa Growth Initiative’s (AGI) project on the “State of democracy in Africa: Pathways toward resilience and transformation.” By looking at democratic resilience, which refers to “the ability to prevent substantial regression in the quality of democratic institutions and processes,” the project recognizes that democracy is not a linear process but a winding endeavor impacted by crisis events and windows of opportunity.