November 5, 2015
2015 Africa Democracy Map
Green = Democracy
Red = Dictatorship
White = Somewhere in between
How many democracies are there in Africa? Our map shows 21 out of a total of 50+ states.
Rules
(1) Only characteristics relating to the Head of State or Head of Government are assessed.
(2) To be a democratic Head of State or Government, you must have come to power and remained in power through multi-party elections. You also must have served no more than two terms.
(3) If you come to power through a coup and then organize elections which you win, such as Abdel Fatah al-Sisi of Egypt, you are not a democrat.
(4) If you succeed your father, who himself was a despot, you are almost certainly not a democrat, e.g. Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon.
(5) Absolute monarchs are by definition not democrats. Ceremonial monarchies could possibly be democracies.
(6) If you are or were any kind of fighter (soldier, rebel, coup plotter etc), your democratic credentials are immediately suspect, however good the cause for which you were fighting.
(7) If you were indirectly elected by a small group of electors, such as Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Somalia, your democratic credentials are undermined.
Notes
(1) Although the two-term limit could be regarded as unduly severe, especially by those comparing with the European experience (Angela Merkel etc), it should be noted that some of those who have exceeded this limit have done so by very lengthy periods, with little indication of their stepping down any time soon, e.g.
Teodoro Obiang Masogo,
Equatorial Guinea,
36 years
Jose Eduardo dos
Santos, Angola
36
years
Paul Biya, Cameroon
33 years
Dennis Sassou-Nguesso,
Congo Brazzaville
31 years, non-continuous
Omar al-Bashir,
Sudan
26
years
Yoweri Museveni,
Uganda
29 years
Robert Mugabe,
Zimbabwe
28 years
Idriss Deby, Chad
25 years
Isaias Aferwerki,
Eritrea
22 years
Yahya Jammeh,
Gambia
21 years
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