In their latest report documenting the experiences and attitudes of African citizens towards democracy in the past 25 years, Afrobarometer – Africa’s most extensive public opinion survey on democracy – concluded that “democracy is at risk.”1

Indeed, the gradual regression of democracy and rapid descent into military rule are testaments to the gloomy picture painted in the survey. The high expectations that followed democratic transitions in the 1990s are increasingly waning, not because African citizens are no longer interested in democracy. Still, they are feeling disappointed over the existing socio-economic and political conditions. Social inequality gaps continue to widen, while political elites display immense wealth, living off the commonwealth through looting of public treasury. Conflicts, arising from competition for power and unresolved grievances, as well as external manipulation, have accounted for more killings and caused political instability.

Concerned about the emerging crisis of democracy in Africa, the Social Science Research Council’s APN and Next Gen program sponsored a special panel at the Lagos Studies Association (LSA) annual conference in 2025 to dissect the problems bedeviling democracy and the exploration of options for rebuilding democracy, peace, and development in Africa. The summaries of the presentations by four fellows of the APN and Next Gen program, including Hakeem Onapajo, Dare Leke Idowu, Silindile Mlilo, and Alhassan Issah Suhuyini, are succinctly captured in this Special Issue.

In his contribution, Hakeem Onapajo examines the resurgence of coups in West Africa to advance the argument on the role of weak institutions in democratic backsliding in Africa. He argues that the rapidity at which military coups have recently occurred in the region demonstrates the extent to which frail political institutions – including legislatures, electoral management bodies, the judiciary, and security institutions – undermine the democratic system in Africa. The governments that emerged from transition programs have either failed to reform democratic institutions or deliberately subverted the institutions to perpetuate themselves in power. Onapajo argues that weakened and dysfunctional institutions have led to executive lawlessness, impunity, and state capture, which have encouraged military opportunists to intervene, employing the old mantra of “military custodianism” to seize power.

Arguing from the perspective of social movements in a liberal-democratic environment, Dare Idowu unpacks the strategies of youth-led movements to defend democracy and citizenship rights in Africa. Based on insights drawn from Kenya and Nigeria, Idowu highlights the use of digitally networked protests as a nonviolent means by which youths can influence democratic and socioeconomic changes. He argues that African youths should explore the opportunity of the digital space to influence substantial changes by demanding higher-level protest goals, such as breaking the structural, constitutional, and institutional barriers to youths’ participation in leadership and governance.

Silindile Mlilo’s essay critically examines Botswana’s 2024 election, which saw the defeat of the long-term ruling party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), for the first time in the country’s 58-year history of democracy. She argued that the peaceful transfer of power to the opposition party, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), is a clear indication of the significance of functioning institutions and organized opposition in consolidating democracy in Africa. Mlilo further used the Botswana case as proof that political change is possible without violence, drawing on the capacity of youth to organize and mobilize for political change.

Alhassan Suhuyini examines conflict and unresolved grievances, with a particular focus on democracy in Ghana. With empirical data on farmer-herder conflicts, he demonstrates the extent to which pastoralists – often seen as the aggressors in many studies and media reports – are alienated, especially in terms of access to land, water, and citizenship rights. According to him, this socio-economic and political marginalization is one of the causes and drivers of farmer-herder conflict, threatening national and regional security in Ghana and neighboring countries. Suhuyini’s essay is particularly instructive as it presents a rare opportunity to understand the grievances of the Fulani pastoralists, including those born in Ghana, and clearly marks a step in framing an inclusive approach towards citizenship and peacebuilding in conflict-affected communities.

Endnotes

  1. Afrobarometer, “African insights 2024: Democracy at risk – the people’s perspective,” https://www.afrobarometer.org/feature/flagship-report/