scholarly journals Multiple Faces of Democrats: Satisfaction with Democracy and Support for Democracy in Malawi

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-37
Author(s):  
Michael Chasukwa
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Economic Survival ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Democracy And Education ◽  
Critical Citizens

Matters of satisfaction with and support for democracy have been at the centre of discussion regarding the survival and quality of democracy in Africa since the early 1990s. While the dominant discourse claims that support for democracy keeps on increasing with time, African countries have somewhat deviated from this path. Thus, African countries have had decreasing levels of satisfaction with democracy and support for democracy since the third democratisation wave of the early 1990s. This article takes interest in the trends of satisfaction with democracy and support for democracy with the objective of explaining factors contributing to the undermining of the survival and quality of democracy. A mixed methods research design, using Afrobarometer survey data for four rounds and secondary data, is deployed to address issues pertaining to critical and satisfied democrats as raised in the article. The article finds that satisfaction with democracy and education are significant predictors of support for democracy in Malawi. It also establishes that critical democrats fight to make democracy work, albeit for their economic survival. The article argues that the survival and quality of democracy in Malawi is compromised by elite critical citizens who show commitment to democracy as a matter of principle when they are instrumentalists.

scholarly journals Who wants technocrats? A comparative study of citizen attitudes in nine young and consolidated democracies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihail Chiru ◽  
Zsolt Enyedi
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Civic Activism ◽  
Citizen Attitudes ◽  
Corruption Perception ◽  
Comparative Survey

Technocratic cabinets and expert, non-political ministers appointed in otherwise partisan cabinets have become a common reality in recent decades in young and older democracies, but we know little about how citizens see this change and what values, perceptions and experiences drive their attitudes towards technocratic government. The article explores the latter topic by drawing on recent comparative survey data from 9 countries, both young and consolidated democracies from Europe and Latin America. Two individual-level characteristics trigger particularly strong support for the replacement of politicians with experts: low political efficacy and authoritarian values. They are complemented by a third, somewhat weaker factor: corruption perception. At macro level, technocracy appeals to citizens of countries where the quality of democracy is deficient and where technocratic cabinets are part of historical legacy. Surprisingly, civic activism, and partially satisfaction with democracy, enhance technocratic orientation, indicating such attitudes are not expressions of alienation or depoliticization.

Democracy, Elections, and Constitutionalism in Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Charles M Fombad
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Support For Democracy ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
African Charter

The 1990 wave of democratization and constitutional reforms in most African countries seems to have signalled a strong commitment to the idea that competitive multiparty elections are the only legitimate basis for democratic governance. This trend was reinforced by the African Union’s adoption of a range of measures to promote democracy, good governance, constitutionalism, and the rule of law. The most important of these is the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), which came into force in 2012. Save for Eritrea and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and a few countries engulfed in conflict, such as Libya and South Sudan, multiparty elections have become the norm among African states. However, after a brief period of free and fair elections during which numerous countries saw peaceful alternations of power, the quality of elections declined, entering what has been characterized as a mild but protracted recession. Many recent elections have degenerated into little more than exercises in competitive authoritarianism. The full potential for democracy and constitutionalism in Africa is thus yet to be realized. This chapter highlights key issues that have arisen in the struggle to institutionalize an ethos of democratic governance, examining the link between democracy, elections, and constitutionalism, then identifying the main strides taken in promoting democratic governance, as well the main challenges impeding those strides. Although support for democracy is growing, there is no room for complacency: the continent’s transition to democracy remains at serious risk of degenerating into a mere exercise in attempting to contain a ‘zombie’ democracy.

scholarly journals Who wants technocrats? A comparative study of citizen attitudes in nine young and consolidated democracies

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110183
Author(s):  
Mihail Chiru ◽  
Zsolt Enyedi
Keyword(s):  
Strong Support ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Civic Activism ◽  
Citizen Attitudes ◽  
Corruption Perception ◽  
Comparative Survey

Technocratic cabinets and expert, non-political ministers appointed in otherwise partisan cabinets have become a common reality in recent decades in young and older democracies, but we know little about how citizens see this change and what values, perceptions and experiences drive their attitudes towards technocratic government. The article explores the latter topic by drawing on recent comparative survey data from nine countries, both young and consolidated democracies from Europe and Latin America. Two individual-level characteristics trigger particularly strong support for the replacement of politicians with experts: low political efficacy and authoritarian values. They are complemented by a third, somewhat weaker factor: corruption perception. At the macro level, technocracy appeals to citizens of countries where the quality of democracy is deficient and where technocratic cabinets are a part of historical legacy. Surprisingly, civic activism and, partially, satisfaction with democracy enhance technocratic orientation, indicating such attitudes are not expressions of alienation or depoliticisation.

scholarly journals Social Capital and Quality of Democracy Revisited in a Comparative Perspective

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conceição Pequito Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Social Accountability ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy

To what extent, if any, does social capital contribute to the democratic formation of citizens´attitudes? It is a major influence among several others or just a minor one when it comes to forming political attitudes? This paper provides an empirical answer to these questions, drawing from the 2010 European Social Survey questionnaire. Its first section includes a discussion about the quality of democarcy in the culturalist approach of Political Science. The following section addresses the operationalization of the concept of quality of democracy and its main dimensions, with particular attention to social accountability. It then seeks to relate the concepts of social accountability as a pivotal dimension of the quality of democracy and social capital as formulated By Robert Putman. We used a multivariate regression analysis to test our hypotheses, which focus on whether the components that make up social capital have a differentiated impact on the formation of political attitudes, i.e. on the degree of satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions in old and new democracies.Key-Words: Quality of Democracy, Social Accountability, Social Capital, Satisfaction with Democracy, Trust in Political Institutions.

scholarly journals The impact of xenophobia-Afrophobia on the informal economy in Durban CBD, South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Tshishonga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
African Countries ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Economic Survival ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
Formal And Informal Sectors

The renewed incidents of xenophobia, which engulfed South Africa, dented this country’s image, continentally and internationally. These occurrences invoke an unresolved question, thus: Can xenophobic attacks be attributed to tighter or discriminatory immigration policies or are people caught in quandary for socio-economic survival? Similarly to the pogroms in Poland against Jews, xenophobia left fatal scars, not only amongst Africans and non- Africans, and has affected the informal economy negatively. This article explores the impact of xenophobia on the operations of the informal economy on which the poor depend for socio-economic survival. For the most part of April-May 2015, the streets of Durban were deserted because of the xenophobic attacks on non-South African businesses, particularly those owned by Africans from different parts of the continent. Fear was planted in the city of Durban, which in turn led to the decline in economic activity, both formal and informal sectors, with the later bearing the most brunt. The city was turned into a battle field whereby Afro-hatred was perpetuated with the intention of causing bodily harm and making deportation threats. Nationals from other African countries, mainly Nigerians, Somalis, Malawians, Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, Ethiopians and Congolese were accused of taking jobs meant for locals and suffocating their businesses as well as taking their women. In fear of their lives, non-South Africans were forced to close their businesses and to go into hiding. This article argues that the impact of xenophobia is a double-edged sword and has far- reaching implications for both South Africans and non-South Africans as the local city dwellers depend on the services provided by informal businesses. The article uses both primary and secondary data. The empirical data was extracted mainly from the street traders and hawkers eking a living in the informal sector.

Education, democratic governance, and satisfaction with democracy: Multilevel evidence from Latin America

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212095287
Author(s):  
Alejandro Monsiváis-Carrillo ◽  
Gabriela Cantú Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Latin American Countries

It is usually recognized that satisfaction with democracy is enhanced by clean governments and fair democratic procedures. However, under certain circumstances, some citizens might appreciate the quality of democratic governance more than others. Building on research that underlines the accuracy and norm-inducing functions of education, we argue that the quality of democratic governance conditions the relationship between education and satisfaction with democracy. Analyzing data from 18 Latin American countries, we find that higher-educated citizens are less satisfied with the regime than the less-educated. Among the highly educated, nonetheless, the least satisfied are those who were asked by public officials to pay bribes. Highly educated individuals are more satisfied with the regime if their country’s quality of democracy is robust rather than weak. At the lowest level of education, the conditional influence of being asked for a bribe or the quality of democracy is absent.

scholarly journals NEW TRENDS IN LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA: THE JONATHAN – MANDELA EXPERIENCE

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
John Kalama ◽  
◽  
Johnson Sinikiem ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Quality Of Leadership ◽  
Nelson Mandela

This paper examined the changes recorded in the leadership and governance structure in Africa with particular reference to the Jonathan and Mandela administration in Nigeria and South Africa respectively. The study made use of secondary data while the analysis was done qualitatively through contents analysis. Conflict theory was also applied to guide the study. Findings revealed that the policy actions and leadership styles of some African leaders affected the quality of leadership and governance structure in various African countries. The paper concluded that the gains recorded in the democratization process in Africa can be sustained when leaders and citizens abandon sit-tight leadership and embrace democratic values and principles as clearly demonstrated by Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria and Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

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