“Two Decades of Democratic Transition in Africa”
Concept Note Introduction The year 2011 has been marked by a period of dramatic change, as well as agitation for political change in many parts of Africa, in particular in the North of the continent. Events of the so-called “Arab Spring” have provoked intense discussion, in the region and internationally, of the dynamics of this revolutionary momentum that has seen the departure from power of three of the region’s longest serving heads of state. Questions have been posed and debated regarding the timing (why now?) as well as the nature of agents and tools responsible (who, and what, in reality brought about these changes?). At the same time, it has also been asked whether the rest of the continent is likely to follow the example of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, any time soon. What’s so new about the “Arab Spring”? Knowledgeable analysts of political and socio economic trends on the continent, however, point to the fact that North Africa is in many ways “behind the curve” and is only now, some twenty years later, experiencing the democratic transition which swept across most of the rest of the continent in the early 1990s. That said, it is also acknowledged, that while the democratic transition may indeed have begun in many countries two decades ago, the glass is in many cases “only half full” as far as the entrenchment of liberal democracy in Africa is concerned. Furthermore, it is convincingly argued that in several countries the entire democratic transition was either treated as a charade by entrenched elites who simply played lip service to the holding of elections to please the West, without making any serious attempts to meet the full democratic aspirations of the majority of their fellow citizens who were clamoring for “real change” to the status quo ante. Time for a candid assessment of democratic transitions across Africa since 1990 In that regard, the dramatic events and changes in North Africa over the past year, present an apt occasion both to assess the status of democratic transition in Africa as a whole with a view to seeing both what can be learnt from the experience in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to guide the North as it seeks to advance its transition processes, and concurrently to ascertain what lessons and example the momentum of change in the North can now give to the rest of continent as it continues on the long journey to complete the democratic transition started twenty years ago. CoDA Democratic Transition in Africa Discussion Forum: Modalities and Objectives Within that context, the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) is organising a discussion forum on the theme: “Two Decades of Democratic Transition in Africa”- From the National Conferences of the 1990s to the Arab Spring of 2011: Results and Prospects on the afternoon of Saturday 12 November 2011. The Forum, which will convene between 13:45 and 17:30, will be structured around a panel discussion, and will address issues related to the myriad experiences of democratic transitions in Africa since 1990, with a view to assessing what can be gleaned from this in order to help the continent’s leaders and people upscale efforts to advance the democratic agenda.
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