May 10 2008
Democracy or Failed States?
Since independence, and actually even before, African countries have suffered in the department of good leadership. For the first two decades, and sometimes even more, “big men” have controlled the continent, caring more about filling their pockets than serving their citizens.In this opinion piece, Thandika Mkandawire looks at the theft of votes and the unethical ways these “big men” leaders take away real democracy from their countries’ people.
Democracy means rule of the demos, although it does not say exactly who the “demos” is. Many African leaders have exploited this lacuna, taking the prerogative to define the demos as that which ensures their re-election. This approach to choosing voters entails the introduction of criteria to exclude certain individuals or groups.
Giving examples from Zambia, Malawi, and Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), it’s a well-written, and deep analysis of what’s wrong with democracy in Africa. In the end, her conclusion:
The problem in Africa is perhaps not so much how we choose our leaders, but what importance our leaders attach to the people’s choices.
In Turkish Weekly, of all places, there is another opinion piece about “The Myth of the ‘Failed State’ in Africa.”
Regional instability, armed conflict, ethnic/tribal/religious clashes, indebtedness, hunger, poverty, (reemerging) diseases, environmental degradation, underdevelopment… These are just a few references produced to ‘comprehend’ the current state of affairs in sub-Saharan Africa. They have been discursively presented and thus perceived as ‘natural’ and ‘internal’ problems or even ‘inherent’ characteristics of the continent.
The author see this definition of developing countries as simply a way, or an excuse, for non-developing countries to come in and intervene. “State failure” does not take into account historical and social conditions in these countries that “fail.” The writer really pushes the need to analyze the individual cases on the continent, instead of “mythically” representing them all as failed states.
Revealing this very mythical representation of failed states is a vital job in order to provide more substantial and enduring solutions for the ‘failures’ of those states.
The piece is a little “academic,” but is also a good analysis of the political situations in Africa and how we can look at them.
