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Democratic Transition and the African Renaissance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Moise A. Adjangba
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Since the 1960s, the Roman Catholic Church has added momentum
to the democratic renaissance in Africa, especially through
the encyclicals of Pope John Paul II (above) and Pope John
XXIII. (UPI)
Click image to enlarge.
This article looks at the political aspects of the concept of African renaissance promoted by South African President Thabo Mbeki. Although democratic transition is a goal in sub-Saharan Africa, it is a long way from being implemented. Obstacles include military control, corruption, and lack of genuine political parties. Free and fair elections are rare. Failed democracies in Africa have led to increased ethnic and social conflict within the state.
Introduction
It is appropriate to begin this study with a discussion of the concept of renaissance and indicate succinctly what is meant by the African renaissance. We shall subsequently explore the conditions of progress of the African renaissance.
South African president Thabo Mbeki, one of the eminent exponents of the idea of "African renaissance," describes it by such characteristics as self-esteem and self-definition, the dignity of the human being, the material welfare of the individual and freedom from oppression and fear, cultural and intellectual regeneration.
The concept of African renaissance derives from a historical precedent. As a precedent, the European renaissance represented a stage in the historical development of Europe, which marked the transition from the medieval to the modern world.
The European renaissance was a rediscovery of the Greco-Latin civilization. It was a period of revival of art and literature which spanned the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries with scholars like Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Francesco Petrarch, Geoffrey Chaucer, and others.
The decisive turning point in the historical process of renaissance occurred in 1354 with the capture by the Turks of Constantinople, the capital city of the ancient Eastern Roman Empire, which caused many Christian scholars to flee and seek refuge in the West. The spirit of renaissance then spread gradually from Italy to other parts of Europe. It produced men of talent in art, literature, architecture, and sculpture such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Erasmus, Sadolet, Bude, and others.
In the field of science, the works of Roger Bacon, Galileo, and Copernicus left indelible imprints on the future evolution of the science of nature.
Undoubtedly, a similar revival process occurred in Africa prior to the fifteenth century, a period during which Africans made remarkable achievements in learning and art. Brilliant doctors lectured at the University of Sangkore in the former Empire of Mali. During the reign of Kings Kanka Musa and Muhammad Askia, this African Empire was renowned for its magnificence. Many African scholars of theology held chairs at the University of Fez in Morocco.
This study is, however, concerned with a specific and well-defined dimension of the African renaissance as it relates solely to the political sphere. It explores the concept of African renaissance from the vantage point of political humanism defined in terms of care for the people and the exercise of political power and authority in a manner beneficial to society.
The historical context of the democratic transition and its relevance to the idea of human rights
Contributory factors
The past two decades have witnessed impressive democratic changes around the world. These changes are attributable to a wide range of historical factors among which, the relaxation of East-West tensions, the globalization of the world economy, the revolution of information technology, and the global reach of modern telecommunication systems. The political organization and the social lifestyle of the advanced market economy countries have kindled the long-repressed desires of millions of men and women who languished under despotic rulers for freer, more pluralistic and open societies.
This wind of change is, however, a link in a long chain of events. It goes back to the Magna Carta (1215) and habeas corpus (1679) in England. These momentous early advances paved the way to the Declaration of Independence of the thirteen original North American colonies (1776), to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens by the French National Assembly during the Revolution (1789). This trend has continued unabated until this century, and it is particularly opportune to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose fiftieth anniversary was celebrated not long ago.
Political scientist Karel Vasak identified three generations of human rights. In his theory, the first generation of human rights corresponds to the political and civil rights on the basis of which the state is required to abstain from interfering with certain individual freedoms. The second generation consists of the social, economic, and cultural rights which, in contrast to the first generation of rights, require the active involvement of the state. According to Vasak, the third generation of human rights comprises solidarity rights in which he includes the right to peace, the right to a clean environment, and the right to development.1
Samuel P. Huntington showed that three distinctive waves can be observed in the recent democratic revival.2 According to his studies, the first "democratic wave" covers a time span from 1818 to 1926 when a number of nations established political regimes based on universal suffrage. The second wave corresponds to the period between 1943-1962 (a period which encompasses the latter part of the second World War and the beginning of the democratization process in sub-Saharan Africa), whereas the third wave extends from 1974 to 1990 with the demise of the authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union.
Among the factors that shaped the democratic transition, the role of the Roman Catholic Church has proved very critical through a redefinition of its evangelical mission as it relates to human rights and freedom. The church in the 1970s began to provide protection and support to pro-democratic oppositions, e.g., in Poland with Lech Walesa. In other countries, e.g., in Brazil, the church became the catalyst of social change, notably with Don Helder Camara of Recife nicknamed the "bishop of the poor." The church therefore became a force for democratic change.
At the global level, Pope John XXIII stressed the imperative need for change in political and social structure and made the protection of human rights the focus of his encyclicals emanating from Vatican II (1962-65).
The church's struggle for democracy and human rights was given further impetus under John Paul II's pontificate. In his first encyclical (March 1979), he denounced violation of human rights and identified the church as the "guardian of the freedom which is the condition and basis for the human person's true dignity."
On the political front, a number of factors have also contributed to the democratic revival. The post-Cold War foreign policy of the United States from the Carter administration on, the gradual consolidation of the common foreign policy of the European Union members and the coming into existence of new democracies in Eastern Europe constitute pointers to the emergence of a global democratic community.
Democracy: A conceptual framework
To underscore the centrality of democracy for human existence, Alexis de Tocqueville referred to it as the "providential force in history." As a complex phenomenon, democracy is better defined through its constituent elements.
What, then, are the most salient features of democracy? How do sub-Saharan African countries measure up to those standards to lend credence to our claim of political renaissance of the continent in this and perhaps the coming century?
The concept of limited government and linked with it that of the sovereignty of the constitution is undoubtedly a major prerequisite of democracy. It provides the theoretical foundation for the principle of dissociation of state power from the person of the power holder.
Where this principle is not adhered to, there is the temptation for the power holder to believe that he is the state. "I am the state," the French absolute monarch Louis XIV once said. This attitude which is clearly germane to the cult of personality is a hallmark of present-day sub-Saharan African potentates. The concept of separation of powers, according to which roles and functions are distributed so that no single person or institution can exercise them all (checks and balances), is a helpful complement of the principle of limitation of government. A limited government is not, however, an inefficient and weak government. Its limitation refers to the issue of means and methods of governance and rightful ends it pursued, namely to provide security and happiness for the people. In this connection, suffice it to recall the dictum that the "best government is that which governs the least"; in other words too much government kills government. The marked tendency of post-colonial African states for pervasive government control and centralization of power is a cause of their present political failure and economic bankruptcy.
Finally, there is a strong correlation between a stable and working democracy and socioeconomic development. Indeed, there can be no democracy without development, just as there can be no development without the rule of law. It is plain to see that African states are quite deficient in development and in democracy as well. Development at the grass roots means, above all, the satisfaction of basic human needs which, it must be emphasized, include not only tangible or material needs such as food, clothing, shelter, safe drinking water, and sanitation, but also intangible or immaterial ones such as personal security, education and training, freedom, human dignity, and participation in decision-making for the definition of societal goals. The above-mentioned features make a human society truly humane. It is probably at this juncture that the concept of renaissance intersects the idea of human rights and humanism defined in simple words as primordial concern for the human person and its development.
Francis Blanchard, the then director-general of the International Labor Organization (ILO), defined the concept of basic needs as:
The minimum standard of living which a society should set for the poorest groups of its people. The satisfaction of basic needs meeting the minimum requirements of a family for personal consumption: food, shelter, clothing; it implies access to essential services, such as safe drinking water, sanitation, transport, health, and education; it implies that persons available for and willing to work should have an adequately remunerated job. It should further imply the satisfaction of needs of a more qualitative nature; a healthy environment, and popular participation in the making of decisions that affect the lives and livelihood of the people and individual freedoms.3
The illusion of democracy
We shall first consider the different perspectives on democracy in Africa. We shall then turn to the substantive issue of how much democracy in Africa?
The views
For the "Afro-pessimists," democracy is at best a remote probability and at worst unsuitable for the Africans because the concept is alien to traditional African culture. African societies, they assert, are naturally paternalistic and authoritarian. As a result, they secrete authoritarian governments.
A slightly modified view is also fashionable. Its proponents do not dismiss point-blank the possibility of democracy in Africa. They hold, however, that the introduction of premature democracy in Africa would crystallize popular opposition to the governments and would increasingly undermine the painful process of the formation of a market-oriented economy. This approach removes, so to say, democracy from the current agenda of African countries in the interest of economic development, a development which has become more and more elusive over the last thirty years. Sacrificing political democracy in the name of economic development and "law and order" has resulted in the flourishing in Africa of regimes a la Pinochet (Pinochet-like regimes). Another variant of the preceding view is that the African masses are too preoccupied with the satisfaction of pressing basic needs to concern themselves with civil liberties and political freedoms.
There is finally the "optimist view." In substance, its proponents believe that democracy has made some headway in Africa, although this process unfolds unevenly in different countries of the continent, each according to its own social circumstances and tempo. (The author of this paper believes that the post-colonial African leaders have done disservice to democracy which has lost much of its verve and lively enthusiasm of the latter part of the colonial administration marked by free and fair electoral competition among existing political parties which heralded the era of political independence, vigorous trade-unionism, and a modicum of respect for human rights and dignity which are rarely found in Africa today.)
Plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose
There is often a wide gap between rhetoric and reality regarding the issue of democracy in Africa. For one thing, African political leaders take their citizens, like their "cattle" (the term is borrowed from Octave Mirabeau's le Royal Betail by which he referred to the French populace prior to the 1789 Revolution).
In the context of the African "democracy," which we are told is advancing according to each country's social circumstances, arbitrary arrest of political opponents, torture, and political assassination are the rule rather than the exception. Under this regime of "tropicalized democracy" the presidential palace remains the only decision-making center. As a result, a patrimonial political culture of allegiance to the presidential person and political clientelism prevail.
The behavior of the dignitaries of the regime and men in uniform is often characterized by unbearable arrogance toward the population. Last, but not least, although political elections are held at regular intervals, they turn out to be monumental swindles with prearranged victory of the incumbents making a mockery of the electoral system itself and undermining popular confidence in the process.
P.A. Nyongo rightly observed that African states "represent to date only three experiences: arbitrary deprivation of freedom, bureaucratic inefficiency, and radical exploitation by those particularly sectionalized forces which represent the State."4
The costs of failed democracy
The truncated, tropicalized African democracy inevitably produces huge costs for the populations of the continent. There are indirect or "hidden costs" such as massive floods of refugees and displaced persons, intensified illegal immigration of the youth as an escape from economic misery and political repression, political apathy and normlessness, etc. There are also direct or more visible costs, which I shall consider in some length.
A recent study shows that human rights are the least respected in Africa.5 Amnesty International reports every year persistent, flagrant, and gross infringements of human rights. What stands above all, said Crawford Young, is massive and systematic assault upon human dignity as a function of insecure and paranoid rulers.
As a result, the African political regimes increasingly assume the characteristics of security-conscious praetorian states. Not surprisingly, mounting tensions develop between conflicting groups in societies and the authoritarian-bureaucratic state. Those conflicts aiming at the overthrow of the existing political order belong, therefore, to the category of "anti-regime conflicts." To date, the number of civilian deaths and casualties on account of such ongoing conflicts is reaching appalling proportions.
The exclusive causal factors are: bad governance, lack of democratic participatory structures, and politicized ethnicity, i.e., the use of ethnic factors as vehicle of political expression.
A cursory analysis of conflict patterns on the continent abundantly shows in different degrees of intensity either or one all of these causal factors.
In a nutshell, we can say that armed rebellions and wars are linked with factors such as:
--An authoritarian system of government that severely restricts civil liberties;
--A growing militarization of regime mainly for the personal security of the powerful ruler;
--An extreme pauperization of large social strata, and what is worse still, the existence of an abyssal social gap between a handful of dignitaries and the masses;
--The inability of the regime to effect desired social reforms;
--A profound regional and ethnic imbalance stemming from the inability of the State to engage in a genuine multicultural policy that would promote social cohesion in the context of an ethnically plural society.
The prerequisites of a genuine democratic transition
Assessing the present state of democracy in Africa and its desirable future course, then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said on the occasion of the adoption of South Africa's Constitutional Bill in 1996: "What we have been talking about is the establishment of genuine and stable democracies in Africa, in which the systems of governance will flourish because they derive their authority and legitimacy from the will of the people….
"This point must be made clear that the new political order owes its existence to the African experience of many decades which teaches us as Africans that what we tried did not work, that the one-party state and the military governments will not work."6
Certain remedial actions are urgently needed to promote democracy and the observance of Human Rights in African states. The substantive measures should address the following issue areas:
--Political pluralism, the free press and open market of ideas;
--Possibility of initiating legal proceedings against the state;
--Institutional consolidation;
--Existence of a strong and energetic civic movement;
--Respect for and protection of individual rights and minorities;
--Elimination of corruption and equitable sharing of national revenues to reduce glaring inequality and grinding poverty;
--Prevention of military incursion into politics;
--Influential international factors.
For convenience's sake, we shall consider these challenges which democracy faces in Africa under four headings.
(i) Civilian-military relations as a challenge for democracy
The influence of the military on politics remains strong in all African countries. They practically define the sphere of jurisdiction of the political authorities. Yet, constitutional democracy requires that all military forces be subordinate to the direction of political hierarchy.
Although brutal military incursions are on the decline because of the changed international environment, the military continue nevertheless to retain so much institutional autonomy in Africa that they still represent a latent threat to democracy. The solution to the self-appointed political role of the army in Africa would reside in greater professionalization of this body.
Huntington expresses the view that as the military becomes better educated, technically more sophisticated and more highly specialized, they would naturally become apolitical, serving the State without questioning the prerogatives of the political authorities.7
(ii) Institutional consolidation as a challenge
Effective democracy requires also established judicial procedures and rules of political conduct, and vigorous institutions which at present are almost inoperative in Africa.
First of all, political parties in most African countries serve at best only as vehicles for contending elections after which they fall again into deep political slumber. Most of them are too narrowly ethnically based and too weak to play an effective political role by articulating the demands of the masses. In addition, they are characterized by their chronic inability to propose coherent societal projects and to state a clear governmental platform.
Another institutional deficiency in African politics is the lack of necessary autonomy of the legislature and judicial systems. Although provisions are made in all African constitutions for the existence and effective operation of those organs, their creation is not at all a sufficient condition for the birth of democracy. Indeed, the judicial system in Africa is heavily influenced by political considerations and pressures from the executive power. The legislative body is often bypassed by the executive who relies on presidential decrees.
(iii) Civic movement and political culture
A vibrant civil society including nongovernmental organizations, workers' associations, churches, business groups, etc., usually serves as a barrier against authoritarianism. In addition, democracy rests to a large extent on the existence of a sound political culture.
(iv) Influential international factors
Finally, a number of international factors are important in the consolidation of democracy. Among these factors, there is the requirement of a minimum standard of moral values in diplomacy. It is indeed an unfortunate fact that some industrialized nations are prompt to pay lip service to democracy and respect for the rights and dignity of man, but they are still prompter to sacrifice those same rights on the altar of their economic and commercial interests. On the other hand, a tendency has developed of late to call in international observers to monitor electoral processes in Africa. For those so-called international observers, it is highly desirable that they are bound by an ethical code of behavior that will prevent them from endorsing obviously rigged elections as "honest, free, and fair." In lending credibility to such "elections" they exacerbate further the political tensions in the countries of observation.
Wherever and whenever necessary, the international community should rise in defense of democracy. The restoration to power of the democratically elected president of Haiti, Father Aristide, who had been deposed by a military junta led by Raul Cedras in 1991, is a graphic illustration of the defense of democracy at the international level.
Last, but not least, it is essential to strengthen the tendency of making development assistance policy conditional on the respect for human rights and democratic governance. The explicit reference by the ACP-EU Lome IV Convention to this conditionality is surely a historic stride forward in the international efforts aiming at the consolidation of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. So are the newly instituted norms of the International Criminal Court under the July 1998 treaty signed in Rome.
Concluding remarks
Democracy is inseparable from respect of human rights, especially economic, social, and cultural rights which are the foundation of man's true dignity. Under the constitutional provisions of most African countries, these rights are guaranteed. Yet, their formal recognition does not ensure their practical implementation. The gap between lofty declarations of principle and commitment to concrete action for the promotion of those rights is often insuperable.
Take, for instance, the primordial right to life. It is threatened by famine and epidemic diseases; the right to employment is likewise thwarted by massive unemployment; the right to education which permits meaningful political participation of the ordinary men and women is no more than a simple declaration of intent while African governments continue to devote an increasing share of their meager resources to armaments.
In a continent torn apart by political conflicts and civil wars, democracy remains the only viable alternative to violent changes in solving the intractable issue of succession which has brought untold suffering to many African peoples.
It is beyond doubt that development is a necessary precondition of the meaningful exercise of human rights. In other words, democracy is an empty shell in the absence of a tangible improvement of the living conditions of the masses.
Nyongo showed that there is a definitive correlation between the lack of democratic politics in Africa and worsening socioeconomic conditions.8
Bad governance, i.e., unproductive use of scarce resources coupled with rampant corruption, and virtual "privatization of the state" by the ruling clique are not only serious obstacles to democracy but constitute in a significant measure a structural violence against the disinherited masses.9
To make democracy an operational concept in Africa, it is important to make the principles of justice of the state and the accountability of its rulers fully operative.
NOTES
1. Karel Vasak, 1977, p. 29.
2. Samuel P. Huntington, 1992.
3. Blanchard, F., 1977, p. 7.
4. Nyongo, A.P., 1987, p.19.
5. L'Autre Afrique, No. 70, Decembre 1998.
6. Thabo Mbeki, Cape Town, 8 May 1996.
7. Huntington, S.P. The Soldier and the State, 1957.
8. Nyongo, op. cit. p. 19
9. In the sense of Johan Galtung who stressed that mass misery caused by social deprivation resulting from the maintenance of unjust social structures represents "anonymous" or structural violence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blanchard, F., Employment, Growth and Basic Needs: A One-word Problem, Praeger, N.Y. 1977.
Dahl, R., Polyarchy Participation and Opposition, New Haven 1971.
Diamond, Larry, Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries, Boulder, 1993.
Diamond L./Plattner, M.F., The Global Resurgence of Democracy, Baltimore, 1992.
Huntington, S.P., The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century, University of Oklawoma Press, 1992.
The Soldier and the State, London: Belknap, 1957.
Lipset, Seymour, Political Man, The Social Bases of Politics, New York, 1981.
Nyongo, A. P., Popular Struggle for Democracy in Africa, London, 1957.
Tirdoff, W., Government and Politics in Africa. Macmillan, London, 1984.
Vazak, K.A., 30-year Struggle, UNESCO, Courier, Nov. 1977.
Young, C., Ideology and Development in Africa, Yale, New Haven, 1982.
© 1999 International Journal on World Peace
Moise A. Adjangba was, until his recent death, professor of
international relations at the University of Benin, in the
Republic of Togo. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in
international politics at the University of Tampere, Finland,
where he also served in 1984 as assistant professor. Adjangba
published scores of articles on foreign affairs in Finland's
second-largest daily Aamulehti. His scholarly
publications incude: The West & Non-West: Conflicts and
Exploitation Among Nations (1970), The Legal Status of
the Territorial Sea (1973), The Legal Foundations of
International Relations (1975), The Relevance of the
New International Economic Order (1974), and Theories
and Issues of Dependent Development (1985).
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