The small, Portuguese-speaking island republic of Cape Verde offers a suggestive case study of successful democratic consolidation.
About the Author
Peter Meyns is professor of politics at the University of Duisburg in Germany. His recent publications include Konflict und Entwicklung im Südlichen Afrika (2000) and, as coeditor, Transformationsprobleme im portugiesischsprachigen Afrika (2001).
After a failed democratic experiment in 1993-96 and two military coups, Niger successfully held free and fair elections in 1999. The next couple of years will be crucial to the…
Survey data indicate that Africans support democracy and its formal institutions, but also point to the importance of the informal realm, particularly when formal institutions fail to meet popular expectations.
Since the return of multipartism in sub-Saharan Africa, open-seat elections have been the most likely to yield opposition victories, suggesting that term limits may significantly contribute to democratic consolidation.
