AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT
27TH AAPAM ANNUAL ROUNDTABLE CONFERENCE,
ZAMBEZI SUN HOTEL, LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA, 5TH –
9THDECEMBER 2005
THEME: HARNESSING THE PARTNERSHIP OF THE
PUBLIC AND NON-STATE SECTORS FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT AND GOOD GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA:
PROBLEMS AND THE WAY FORWARD
TOPIC: POLITICAL RENEWAL: DEMOCRATIC
GOVERNANCE, POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTERESTS
GROUPS – EMERGING ISSUES – UNFOLDING ODYSSEYS
Prof. John W. Forje
Department of Political Science, University of Yaounde II, Cameroon
Abstract:
The collapse of the Soviet Union triggered new developments - the introduction of political
pluralism - in transitional societies in Africa. Today, these countries are pursing democratisation
process in the face of massive poverty and pervasive social and economic tensions, under the
auspices of hostile international system driven by a knowledge based economy. To sustain and
consolidate their sovereignty and independence these countries construct an atmosphere of
harnessing the partnership between the state and other stakeholders to sustain its democratic
governance. This paper looks at political parties and interest groups as agents for recruit and
socialisation as well as influencing policies to ensure that the peoples’ needs are provided by the
state. The conceptual framework of the paper is construed with the key concepts of partnership,
participation and responsibility sharing between the key stakeholders, state, civil society and the
private sectors in consolidating democratic governance. These developments are better captured
under the ambit of “strength, weakness, opportunities and threats” – SWOT analysis. The paper further
addresses the extent to which political parties and interest groups are plugged into the global
information network through ICT: as well as the state of training their human resources
development to give the necessary services in forging and maintaining the link between them and
other institutions. It concludes that without a “vibrant civil society” one does not see how an
effective democratisation and political pluralism can take place. Political parties and Interest
groups remain crucial in giving that sense of visionary direction for the cultivation, nurturing and
consolidation of democracy in these emerging democracies.
Keywords:
Partnership, participation, responsibility sharing, interest groups, political parties,
socialisation, recruitment, politics, power, value interests, democratic governance, sustainable
development
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Introduction:
The Basis for Change
For politics and political institutions to promote human development and safe guard
the freedom and dignity of all people, democracy must be widen and deepen.
{UNDP 2002: Human Development Report 2002:2}
Politics represents the final authoritarian allocation of values
Larry Elowitz (1992)
All politics is a struggle for power: the ultimate kind of power is violence
C. Wright Mills (1956)
A dramatic ‘power shift’ is coming, and all nations face one inescapable rule –
Survival of the fastest.
Alvin Toffler (1990)
The reality is that Africa is beset with myriad problems ranging from abject poverty,
political instability, mismanagement, corruption, high indebtedness, exploitation,
marginalisation, to conflicts and wars, just to mention a few of the plethora of
problems plaguing the region. As a continent in distress many questions arise. How
can the continent work its way out of its conflict and underdevelopment-ridden
dynamics? What can be done in deepening and widening democratic governance to
spur substantial progress and quality living standards of the people? Theoretically,
colonialism is an issue of the past: apartheid has collapsed. The cold war is over,
but marginalisation of the developing countries, Africa in particular, continues
unabated. These developments should be signposts paving the way and used as
opportunities for African countries to set up and concentrate more on social,
economic and political issues that must legitimise and consolidate their
independence and sovereignty. Sad enough, the continent is persistently saddled
with numerous constraints, foreign debt burden, low technological capacity, poor
human capital development, poor utilisation of natural and human resources.
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HIV/AIDS pandemic among others, paints a picture of insurmountable obstacles
that the continent is laden to live with. These issues unresolved jeopardises
sovereignty of the continent. However, these problems are surmountable provided
the culture of democratic governance reigns and the people display the political will
for in-depth genuine change
Unfortunately, the rising expectation of the people on the eve of independence now
converges into rising destructive frustrations. The ‘disappointment of independence’
can be attributed to poor or lack of visionary leadership giving birth to neocolonialism and a gross limitation on national sovereignty (Forje 2002). The politics
of seeking personal accumulation has taken over that of seeking the political
kingdom for common good of all. That the content is labelled “failed states”, ‘banana
republics”, “collapsed states” comes as no surprise. The state has failed, calling for
governance shift. Governance shift that entails “inclusion” not “exclusion”: of equal
opportunity for all, not privileges for a selected few. The prevailing state of affairs
demands concerted actions for renewing the African state totally different from the
inefficient, corrupt and centralised states, which had hitherto existed. One may
rightly argue that fifty years is a relative short period in the history of a nation: that
the old democracies took a long period to arrive where they are today. Above all,
democracy is an ongoing process. This position could be seen as an indirect
opportunistic view, that given time, Africa will get there one day. On the other hand,
Axelle Kabou (1991) posits that Africa has rejected development altogether: a
refusal that leads to collapsed states. However, the critical importance of democratic
governance and sustainable development in the developing world was highlighted
at the Millennium Summit, where the world’s leaders resolved to “spare no effort to
promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all
internationally recognised human rights and fundamental freedoms including the
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right to development”. The rules of the political game emanate from democratic
constitutions, its practice and the quality of public officials who are elected through
competitive elections or appointed on the basis of merit as civil servants.
Considering the limited reach of democracy in the immediate post-colonial years up
to the late 1980s, and the region’s turbulent political past, the form of government
practiced today constitute a remarkable development, even though not perfect.
Samuel Huntington’s (1996) baptised ‘third wave’ of the democratisation process
has reached the shores of the continent. It needs to be perfected, nurtured and
consolidated so that the people can join the ranks of global democracies.
Caught between the push and pull poles factors, nevertheless, the continent has
made some significant progress on the democratic bandwagon especially within the
past one and half decades. There is now a new topology of African states, placing
these states at different levels in terms of their disposition towards socio-economic
and democratic political development. Two major challenges confront the continent.
The first is the challenge of the transition from authoritarian rule to embracing
democracy. The number of countries that have conducted plural elections (even
though not yet free and fair) has increased considerably since the return to multipart politics in the 1990s. Multiparty elections have been conducted in many African
countries since 1990. There are success stories in Africa today, yet the overall
situation still calls for special consideration for the acceleration of sustainable
human development and the entrenchment of democratic governance culture in the
region. Across the continent, democratic institutions and practices remain fragile
and, in some countries, liable to reversal. Legislative, judicial, human rights,
administrative, economic management and security institutions and skills need to be
consolidated. Political stability, predictability and legitimacy need to be fostered as
essential conditions for sustainable human development and poverty eradication.
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Partnerships between governments and civil society, as well as participatory
decision-making, need further strengthening.
The second is the transformation of the African economy and social conditions or
the challenge of development – giving the people better standards of living –
revaluing human beings. The imposition of World Bank’s Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP) has compounded the plight of the people. Basic human and
economic development indicators in sub-Saharan Africa present a somewhat bleak
picture. It is commonly agreed that the continent is poorer today than two decades
ago. No other continent in the world has witnessed economic regression in the last
two decades like Africa. It is estimated that up to 50 percent of the region’s
population lives in absolute poverty, a situation projected to worsen in the coming
years if current trends continue. UNDP’s Human Development Report (2004) show
that 31 of the 35 countries within the lowest rankings on human the human poverty
index are in sub-Saharan Africa. At the turn of he century, armed conflict prevailed
in six countries and over 15 other countries were affected by conflict in some way.
Of the more than 39 million people living with HIV/AIDS world wide in 2004, over 25
million (64 percent) were in sub-Saharan Africa and 63 percent of new infections in
2004 were estimated to be in Africa (UNAIDS/WHO 2004). The two trends of
development require substantial inputs from civil society organisations – political
parties, interest groups and social movements.
Thus, despite the progress made, albeit in rather precarious conditions, it must be
recognised that both in terms of progress towards democracy and in terms of the
economic and social dynamic, Africa is experiencing a period of change that in
many cases takes the form of widespread crisis and conflicts. The continent is
therefore entering a period of transformation both in the context of democracy and
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its links to the economy and to the social dynamic in a global context that is also
characterised by change, by the concentration of wealth in the hands of a selected
few, and by the increasing internationalisation of politics. The reality is that politics in
many parts of the continent is still in crisis. The crisis is manifested in the disconnect
between the problems to which citizens demand solutions and the capacity of
politics to address them. Politics in Africa tends to lose its effectiveness because of
the diminution of the internal sovereignty of the State, given the imbalance in the
relationship between politics, civil society and the market, the presence of
institutional {dis}order that limits the capacity of the State to act with a reasonable
degree of autonomy, and the increasing complexity of societies that cannot be
processed by current system of representation. Ethnicity replaces nationalism. No
sense of nationalism exists. The impression one gets is tribal or ethnic state
formation and not construction of a nation-state. There is a need to reconstruct and
reconstitute the nation-state.
These intertwined development processes inject two major pressures to the vision
of a democratic Africa, namely: (i) the element of participation, partnership and
responsibility sharing between the key actors (for example, civil society, interest
groups and political parties) play in the reconstitution and reconstruction of the
nation: and (ii) the kind of environment that is associated with and the provision of a
conducive and levelling playing ground for an emerging democratic order. A
democratic order where the stakeholders must practice and take concrete and
conscious steps to deligitimise dictatorship and gun for a culture of democratic
governance. Political parties, interest groups and other social associations play an
immense and vital role in the emerging political order and dispensation of the
continent. Political parties are indispensable to the working of democracy. Every
democracy in the modern era has revolved around a party system in which at least
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two viable political parties compete freely for the share of political power. The focus
onwards is on these actors - political parties, and interest groups - in the process of
an emerging sustainable development and democratic governance, particularly in
this age of knowledge based economic driven and greater global interconnection
accelerated through the impetus of the new information and communication
technologies (ICTs) superhighway.
Bearing in mind that “three decades of pre-occupation with development in Africa
have yielded meagre reforms” (Ake 1996:1), and taking cognisance that global
economy is technologically driven, leading to further exclusion and marginalisation
of a technologically deficient continent like Africa, what can political parties do in the
process of transition to sustainable development and democratic governance?
Presently, political transitions in Africa are being caricatured to subvert the genuine
and widespread aspiration for democratic governance. How can political parties and
interest groups encourage the state to enlarge democratic openings: to genuinely
democratise and engage in broad base power-sharing arrangements in the
governance process? Without dialogue, consensus, reconciliation, give and take
between the stakeholders, it could be difficult to harness the necessary and required
form of partnership between the public and non-state sectors for consolidating
democratic governance and ensuring sustainable development in transitional
societies.
Conceptual Framework
Politics is a game of interest, power and control over resources. Can political parties
/ interest groups articulate and aggregate policy measures that limits their own
powers and interest areas? These developments are better captured under the
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ambit of “strength, weakness, opportunities and threats” – SWOT analysis. Political
parties are indispensable tools of democracy, encouraging citizens participation as
well as informing the electorate, linking government to the people, and recruiting
and socialisation of those individuals who will serve in official public positions at all
three levels of government. A government without a political party to energise it runs
the risk of becoming totally becalmed. Conflict, chaos, instability reigns supreme
when a government is construed on a narrow recruitment and socialisation basis –
i.e. ethnic, revenge and hatred party politics. Political parties have to be open
encompassing people across ethnic and religious divide to better play the role of
recruitment and socialisation, organising the electoral process, structuring public
political support around identifiable sets of policy programmes, socio-economic
interests and values, suggesting citizen interests and preferences in the
policymaking process, and forming governments and legislative agreements (see
Sartori, 1976: Lipset and Rokkan, 1967: La Palombara and Weiner, 1966). Mazrui
(2004) asserts: “a basic dilemma concerning too much government versus too little
hinges on the party system. There is little doubt that one-party states tend towards
too much government. This has been the case in most of Africa. On the other hand,
the multiparty system in Africa has often degenerated into ethnic or sectarian
rivalries resulting in too little control. This tendency was illustrated by Ghana under
Hilla Limann, Nigeria under Shehu Shargari and Olusegun Obasanjo, and the
Sudan under Sadiq El-Mahdi in the 1980s. The state was losing control in all these
cases. The search for the right balance in party system continues”
Unlike political parties, interest groups do not, to a large extent, propose candidates
for public office. Interest groups are organised bodies seeking to influence public
policy without trying to take over government itself. Interest groups, both economic
and socio-political, are mainly concerned with influencing public officials to accept or
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reject specific programmes and policies. Their methods or influence are both
indirect and direct, the former involving grass-roots pressure, latter skilled lobbyists
who personally contact important decision-makers in the executive and legislative
branches of government (Elowitz, 1992-61}. Interest groups who may also be seen
as lobbyist have members drawn often from the better-educated, wealthier strata of
society. Interest groups are not without critiques, as the system is perceived as
undemocratic and unethical. Advocates of the system see it as necessary for
democracy and providing for the ability to present both the power and wealthier
classes. The relationship between interest groups and democracy also poses
challenges. As already stated, interest groups represent sectional, and sometimes
selfish, interests. A small, well-organised minority may prevail over the poorly
organised indifferent majority. Thus, the tyranny of either minority or majority is a
threat to functional democracy. Both political parties and interest groups should
refrain from placing themselves as tyrants of either majority or minority oppression
machinery. Placing themselves in such a situation is bound to jeopardise the virtues
of democratic governance system.
What is important is that building sustainable democratic governance is a shared
responsibility among governments and communities. Hence, the need to enhance
the institutional capacity of political parties for sustainable democratic governance.
To do this we should first understand how the different characteristics of political
party systems shape their impact on the governability of democracy: (i) their level of
institutionalisation:(ii) their degree of fragmentation: and (iii) their degree of
polarisation. Institutionalised parties are important actors in channelling and
aggregating political demands: they also tend to promote greater political stability
and government effectiveness. When parties are institutionalised, societal actors
come to accept that the most propitious way to influence policymaking is through
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electoral and legislative channels. The degree of fragmentation of party system
relates to the number of parties that regularly obtain a significant share of the votes
and seats in the legislature. The degree of polarisation relates to the extent of the
difference between parties with respect to political ideology and their social bases of
political support (Mainwaring and Scully 1995). When a country is flooded with 20 to
over 200 political parties, (Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Congo–Brazzaville etc.)
this does not gun for sustainable democratic governance. The ruling party takes
advantaged to manipulate the democratisation process. The Cameroon situation
depicts this.
Interest groups can be differentiated as follows: (i) Protective – seen as pressure or
sectional
groups,
defend
members’
interests
(trade
unions,
employers’
organisations, professional organisations): (ii) Promotional - sometimes called
attitude,
cause
or
campaign
groups,
express
members’
values
(include
environmentalist or ecology groups, anti-pornography groups etc.): (iii) Customary
groups, such as the family, not created for specific purposes. For example, third
world politicians and officials are expected to deploy their office to benefit their
family or ethnic group: and (iv) Institutional, which includes public institutions such
as the armies, bureaucracies and parastatals, that seek to influence government to
act on their behalf. Apart form these classifications, Wright (1993:214) identifies
geographic and social movements that do not really fit into any of these discussed
categories.
Interest groups deploy different channels to influence or exert pressure on the
bureaucracy or government. However, to determine the influence these groups
exert individually or collectively; first, the key factor is the nature of the political
system itself, encouraged by competition between parties. Second factor is that of
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the degree of legitimacy achieved by these groups. Third, the effectiveness of an
interest group depends on the sanction it can use. Fourth, a determinant influence
factor is the resources it commands, which includes, finance, organisation and
membership.
Given the fact that democracy since the 1990s in many African countries has been
reduced to multi-party politics, the absence of a vibrant civil society (political parties,
interest groups, social movements), it is impossible that effective democratisation
and political pluralism can take place. Thus nurturing political parties, interest
groups and social movements is vital. How able they are to draw from the SWOT
analysis is crucial to ensure sustainable democratic engagement, inclusion,
transparency democratisation process and order.
Comfort Lamptey (2004:90)
asserts: “The emphasis today, is not on favouring the interests of one group or
sector over another but is, rather, premised on the realisation that the available
political space and material resources within the confines of individual states, when
well-managed, is sufficient to accommodate the needs and interests of all the
diverse elements within the society. The strong role which civil society continues to
play in designing and implementing community and national level development
priorities, provides clear demonstration of the fact that Africa’s development miracle
could not have been secured without investments in the empowerment of all
sectors”. It is imperative for the continent to build to build on the few success stories
and for the people/leaders to embrace with even greater confidence the
opportunities offered by the future.
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Sustainable Democratic Engagement:
We can identify a number of positive governance trends on the road to creating
capable states in Africa: democratic transition, political inclusiveness, voice and
accountability, and economic management. Democratic engagement with all key
players is the key to sustainable development. First, to begin with, in the process of
democratic transition, many African countries have made significant strides,
evolving from authoritarian or military regimes to more democratic arrangements.
Today, elections have become the only acceptable basis for choosing and changing
leadership. Regime shift is through elections: political parties and interest groups
are instrumental in that process. The era of creating and institutionalising a family
dynasty as head of state is over as can be seen from reactions within Africa and
abroad on the events in Togo following the death of Gnassinge Eyadema on 4th
February 2005 (Forje 2005:88-94).
Second, as an instrument for recruitment and socialisation, political parties have
pushed African countries to enter an era of greater political inclusiveness. The trend
is that many African countries are seeking to ensure that the executive and
legislative arms of government reflect the profile of their people in regional, ethnic,
racial and religious terms. Interest groups within the protective concept, and as
pressure or sectional interest groups, would seek to get their own people to occupy
ministerial and other influential posts within the administration or seek to influence
policy measures in areas of vital interest to them, for example, the environment,
HIV/AIDS pandemic, poverty and corruption eradication. A third positive governance
trend is toward expanded voice and accountability. Since politics has entered the
competitive stage, these parties competing for power also act as check balances to
the state and eventually the ruling or governing party. Thus new avenues are being
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created across the nation / continent to permit citizens to participate in the political
processes, to express their demands, without fear of retribution. In turn this pushes
governments to be more responsive to their constituents.
Generally, with the return to political pluralism, most governments have no choice
but to expand their political space for non-state actors to be active participants in the
political process. Political parties and interest groups are forcing governments to be
transparent in public financial management and accountability. In spite of this,
governance in most nations continues to suffer from many glaring deficits. The
quality of public service management and service delivery remains grossly weak in
many African countries. More and more governments in view of the era of corporate
governance are recognising the need to promote the development of the private
sector as an integral part of the democratisation bandwagon. Unfortunately, that
process is slow hampered by old habits that die-hard. People benefiting from the
currently spoil system does not want change.
In terms of opportunities and threats, it is clear that may ‘opportunities and
threats’ exist in repositioning institutions for challenges of sustainable and good
governance – the role for political parties and interest groups. Both groups need to
tape into existing opportunities that can improve their role in promoting sustainable
democratic governance in the society. Two areas stand out significantly, linkage
with institutions of higher learning to improve the quality of human resources
development: and the taping the potential of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) so as to better provide quality services delivery to society.
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Human Resources Development:
All democracies, particularly new democracies, will only evolve, develop and flourish
with an informed, engaged citizenry. For political parties and interest groups to play
a meaningful role in ensuring sustainable democratic governance in emerging
polities, democracy education constitute a key to achieving this. Political parties and
interest groups need to link up with centres of excellence to train their manpower
and provide their supporters with basic education. Democracy education is needed
to provide party supporters with sound opportunities to acquire knowledge, skills,
attitudes and democratic values that enables them to exercise citizenship and foster
their capacity to participate effectively and responsibly in their societies. Institutions
of higher learning should provide the forum for educating party members. So that
these members acquire essential knowledge to protect, sustain and advance the
democratic gains made in the transition process and to revitalise the commitment to
building and nurturing a democratic culture and good governance. Information
communication technologies are instruments in facilitating democracy education.
More avenues and opportunities exist today than before for human training and
resources development to better advance the goals of a renaissance Africa of the
21st century. State institutions and political parties are better equipped with the
necessary knowledge and skills to reconcile the various factions of society towards
a common front for the good of all. It is a question of taking advantage and making
proper use of new and emerging technologies in the process of sustainable
development, cultivating and consolidating the culture of democratic governance.
Are the people prepared for change? That is the question. Axelle Kabou (1991)
may be right in questioning the intent of the people of the continent.
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Information Communication Technologies (ICTs):
Currently, ICTs proliferation is useful for promoting sustainable democratic
governance, transparency, openness and knowledge exchanges in many areas of
society. Political parties and interest groups can now tape into these fast growing
areas of worldwide information communication technology in reaching out to the
world and acquiring more knowledge.
It is important to note that without
technology, global issues will lack their current vitality. The power to organise
human systems and control nature on a grand scale will be impossible in the
absence of technology. With the emergence of a global village (McLuhan) has given
birth to a “hyper-competitive” global market
where comparative advantage no
longer derives merely from low labour cost and natural resources, or close access
to markets, but from “knowledge–intensive” value added technology that
creates new products and services (Olaniran 2004:148; Simon, 1993; Yoda, 1990;
Merrifield, 1991; Worthington, 1991)
Public institutions have moved away from a perceived disorganised, uncoordinated
approach towards information, to a highly co-ordinated data-processing approach.
Political parties, pressure and interest groups are expected to require more
information from government to meet their strategic planning needs, and to pass
information to their supporters. It is extremely vital for the private and public sectors
to evolve with these changes and develop adequate information system that can
communicate sufficient, timely and reliable information. The important fact is that of
placing information technology system for effective government management: and
the contribution of management technology service delivery (Internet and the World
Wide Web) to society. Many political parties run web sites reaching out to a wider
national and global public.
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Weakness:
A major weakness is that given the degree of flawed elections and the failure of the
State, there is growing apathy towards the system. Political parties are losing their
credibility and impact in the political system in varying degrees in nearly every
African country. This does not speak well or help in promoting sustainable
democratic governance. In Africa “democratic deficit” is related to the basic
shortcomings in the electoral system, resources distribution, and gross absence of
the rule of law. The distribution process is extremely unfair; with one ethnic group
grapping the lion share of government appointments or development related
activities. The fact that ethnic hegemony has penetrated into the rank and file of the
political parties, it helps to alienate sympathises’ sense of belonging to other ethnic
groups. In Cameroon this goes under the caption of
“come no go”, “autochthones”,
“strangers in the house”, “return to where you belong” and so forth.
Thus a sense of
belonging and nationalism is absent. Political parties have not been able to bridge
the gap of ethnic divide in the society. To a large extent, interest groups fuel the
process, which helps to fan instability, conflicts and slows the transition to
democratic governance.
Another factor generating cynicism, apathy and other deficit in African countries is
the inability of the political system to carry out economic reforms that serve the
interest of the majority. To this also should be added the degree of gender inequality
in the system. Few of the political parties have accorded positions of responsibilities
to women. Currently, the National Assembly (Parliament) in Cameroon has less that
20 female representatives out of 180 members; and less than eight female ministers
out of a cabinet of 60.
One female Vice Chancellor out of Six State owned
universities. Of the ten provincial governors, there is no woman. On the other hand
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small Rwanda has the highest female gender representation in parliament in the
world that stands at 48.8 percent. Many countries, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya,
Gabon etc. have a long way to go in the area of gender empowerment. Reform
should be geared towards creativity and efficiency, recruitment and promotion
exercises should not be seen from parochial considerations but purely on
performance and merit after due consideration of qualification and experience.
Creating equal opportunity for all is vital. No doubt this will enhance and strengthen
the democratisation process.
In all, one can talk of crisis that besets political parties and interest groups in
repositioning institutions for the challenges of sustainable and good governance.
These issues of crisis need to be seriously address by political parties, interest
groups and the State. Thus political parties face (i) legitimacy crisis, the problem
of achieving agreement about the legitimate nature of authority and the proper
agreement about the authority and proper responsibilities of government: (ii) the
penetration crisis: the problems of political parties in reaching down into the
society and effecting basic policies, as well as bridge growing ethnic divide, hate
and xenophobia propounded by some influential members of the party hierarchy:
(iii) arising from the preceding two is that of the participation crisis. The
participation crisis occurs when there is uncertainty over the appropriate rate of
expansion and when the influx of new participants are constrained due to the notion
of xenophobia, racism, ethnicity pushed forward by other sectors of the party
machinery creates serious strains on existing institutions: (iv) integration crisis.
The crisis covers issues of relating popular politics to party/government
performances. How members from different ethnic groups are integrated into the
party machinery. It represents the effective and compatible solution of both the
penetration and the participation crisis: and, (v) the distribution crisis. How political
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parties are able to influence the distribution of goods, services, and values
throughout the society? Who is to benefit from government, and what should the
party / government be doing to bring greater benefits to different segments of the
society? In short, what should the state and other stake holders do in the process of
harnessing the partnership of the public and non-state sectors for sustainable
development and good governance?
Threats:
The issue of threats arises from the failure of the party system, interest groups and
the State machinery. When political parties and the State misplace their priorities,
become narrow minded, ethnic focused, and bang on personality and cult worship,
they constitute a threat to the democratic process. The way out is to play to the
basic rules and virtues of democracy. To minimise threat, a proposed scenario for
the continent is one of a virtual state model, whereby the state reflects and
incarnates he will of the common people. To achieve this requires total
concentration by the people of their resources and strengths on instituting a true,
participator democracy and equitable development. First, political relationship
between the governor and governed must circumvent on a democratic foundation
and in accordance with the principle of power sharing. Second, the raison d’etre of
the political party, interest groups, social movements, and the State should be to
serve the interests of and, improving the living standards of the people. Third, there
has to be a real commitment to ensuring a smooth transition from dictatorial to
democratic governance, as well as from national to region cooperation. The State
should be prepared to share powers with other institutions at the national, regional
and continental levels. As earlier noted, old habits die-hard: there will be people and
forces resisting this kind of transitions.
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However, the outcome is dependent on the commitment and will of the people to the
principle of genuine change for the common good of all. What is important during
this stage of transition, is avoid further deterioration back into the dark pages of the
continent’s history, to repeat the events of Angola, Liberia, Nigeria (in the 60s)
Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc. that led to the existence of
the Hobbesian “war of all against all” pattern of sovereignty. Given the failure of
economic reform, the issue of democracy is highly questioned: People will tell: “we
do not eat democracy”. Failure in economic growth, inequitable distribution of
wealth leads to poor living standards constitutes serious threats to transition to
democratic governance. Belly politics (Bayart 1993) that has taken over the process
thwarts sustainable development and good governance. Democracy and social
justice should be the hallmark of African countries.
The need to combine
democracy and development must be recognized. Africa needs to rediscover
democracy as the core of its identity internally and externally.
The Challenges Ahead
We need to realize that in young democracies democracy is still very fragile and not
well rooted in daily practice. Many states do not yet perform properly, yet people
accept the state to deliver security, employment and basic services. In many young
democracies governing politicians find themselves in the trenches and at locker
heads with the opposition and civil society. There is no constructive dialogue for
assuring that the foundations of the state are well maintained in the interest of the
common good of the country and its people.
As Tom Carothers aptly captured
some time ago many countries have entered a grey zone of neither being fully
autocratic
nor
fully
democratic.
The
transitions
have
not
yet
produced
transformations. He correctly analyzed that there is nothing inherent in moving from
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authoritarian systems of governance to democratic systems of governance. It takes
hard and dedicated work to move the reform process along the many obstacles on
the road towards the consolidation of democracies (Community of Democracies –
COD, April, 2004, Santiago- Chile).
As free elections and opinion polls continue to testify, people the world over want to
live in democracies because it guarantees universally accepted values and rights. It
is the political systems and those in charge of the systems that fail the expectations
of the people, but, fortunately, both can be addressed.
Major Challenges:
For the State, political parties, and interest groups to advance democracy and to
make it work, we face the challenge of connecting three interrelated agenda’s that
are of foremost concern to people around the world:
•
Pursue economic reform policies that reduce poverty as agreed under the
Millennium Development Goals {MDG’s}, redress the increasing income gap and
assure environmental sustainability;
•
Pursue security reform policies that take the human security dimension into
account and provide for and give access to the rule of law, both domestically and
internationally;
•
Pursue democratic reform policies that – amongst others - assure fair
representation and participation of all population groups, that allow for alternation
of power following professionally run free elections, for a diversified supply of
media, that introduce rigid systems of accountability to contain corruption, that
institutionalize political parties with a focus on policy debates, that apply a strict
separation of powers between the different institutions that make up democracy
and, finally, that encourage a professional civil service.
•
Fighting corruption and ensuring quality service delivery:
21
•
Linking the long-term with the short-term policy strategies:
•
The challenge facing the international community in their relations with
developing polities:
The problems countries have to overcome cannot be underestimated. The
economic, security and democratic consolidation agenda’s are all by definition longterm agenda’s that require consistent and dedicated efforts over a long period of
time. It is one of the acknowledged difficulties within democracies that the electoral
cycles of usually four years, limit the time horizons of the politicians and stand in the
way of addressing the longer-term issues. To overcome this asymmetry between
the short and longer-term interests, national dialogues amongst the key
stakeholders can be the answer to reach substantial consensus, or national social
and political compacts should be encouraged about the longer-term goals on the
three interlinked agendas. The agreed objectives of these compacts can be
subsequently elaborated in short-term priorities that are in line with the agreed
longer-term goals and can be achieved in between electoral cycles.
The
international community should actively assist the facilitation of such longer-term
compacts and its translation in short-term political reform actions.
However, much we dislike or distrust political parties and admittedly often for good
reasons, it is the political parties that select leadership that in the end of the day
takes the key decisions. There is no choice but to involve them from the start and to
ensure that they are driving the national agendas in ways that advance social
cohesion. It is an illusion to address political challenges in technical ways only.
Making democracy work requires political leadership. The primacy of politics in its
broad (full spectrum government and opposition) connotations needs to be
recognized.
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Streamlining international assistance today focuses on the harmonization of aid
flows.
That is very necessary indeed. However, it results in increased budget
support for governments with questionable legitimacy among their population. What
is not addressed or addressed in very superficial manners is the issue of ownership
of reform processes.
National agendas that are the result of reflections,
discussions and negotiations amongst all stakeholders, government and opposition,
state, civil society and the private sector, should be the basis on which the
international community allocates its assistance. The PRSPs go some way but
essentially lack the political dimension. We need nationally prepared and driven
Political Reform Strategy Papers and ideally the two should be integrated in future.
International assistance should be reviewed and assessed for facilitating social
cohesion in countries, for reducing exclusion and for contributing to nation and state
building.
The Role of the International Community:
The other challenge is the role of the international community. The international
community can be far more effective in supporting the consolidation of democracy
around the world and needs to be mobilized to this effect. What are some key
issues? The following key issue areas can be identified.
Democracy itself does not currently feature prominently on the external policy
agenda of the old democracies except in areas where their economic interests are
threatened. There is need for the international community to assist transition
societies in their efforts to build a string democratic governance system. Such
assistance should not imply exporting their own cultural value belief system to these
countries in transition. What is important is for these new democracies to make
democracy the very ration for their state formation as the old democracies have. In
the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 it stated upfront that all members’ system of
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governance are founded on the principle of democracy and that the Union respects
all fundamental human rights. In the new EU constitution it states that the Union is
founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the
rule of law and the respect for human rights. The specific article continues to state
that these values are common to the Member States in a society of pluralism,
tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination. (www.democracyagenda.org)
African democracies should gun for no more wars, conflicts, poverty, and corruption
but vigorously strive for stability, peace to assure its people of prosperity and quality
living standards. As of now, Africa has lost track of these key fundamental values
that symbolizes democratic governance and sustainable development. The
continent of Africa is suffering from democracy deficit.
Democracy assistance today represents a minor share within international
assistance.
For example, it only represents 1% of the EU € 7 bn annual
assistance, although there is some disagreement what should be included under
democracy assistance. Much of the assistance comes in the guise of governance
programmes but that is not necessarily the same as democracy support. There is
some defensiveness among stakeholders in the development assistance field
fearing that democracy support will erode funding available for poverty reduction
programmes. Much of the assistance goes to service the aid industry and does little
to enhance the objectives stated. Hence, a far larger share of funding should go into
democracy assistance if we are seriously interested in assisting these emerging
democracies to succeed.
Presently, much international assistance is still premised on the assumption that
one needs economic development first before the conditions are created for
democracy to take root. This runs counter to the new international realities, the
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latest empirical research, and the marching of people’s around the world regardless
of the levels of poverty in their countries. The premise, and this is a very tall order,
underlying international assistance needs to change radically. Democracy has to
become core business within international cooperation and the practice of
democracy has to be mainstreamed as the way the international community delivers
future assistance. The need to work with grass-roots movements in these countries
is vital to the development of democracy.
The European political foundations that support democratic development generally
operate in a fragmented manner still at a national level. There is need for these
Foundations, for example, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (Britain), the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation (on behalf of the German political foundations), the
Center Party Foundation (on behalf of the Swedish political foundations) among
others to coordinate their activities to better assist in advancing democratic
governance in transitional societies, but without dictating the pace and pattern.
•
The European Union itself acknowledges a democratic deficit.
Partnership in democracy assistance encourages debate within the European
Union and can be mutually beneficial to other areas in similar situations, e.g. The
Africa Union (AU):
•
The new EU member states from the former Central and Eastern Europe only
recently managed peaceful transition processes to democracy. It is recognized
that the process through which this was managed resulted in the successful
outcome. African countries can usefully share the experience with these
transformation processes.
Recommendations: The Way Forward
25
On the basis of the aforementioned challenges, I like to introduce the following
specific recommendations.
•
There are 52-54 nation-states and hence 52-54 different democracies within
the African continent: hence it is recognized that each country needs to develop
its own systems and procedures, but within the broad confines of respecting the
basic tenets of democratic principles. No export of models:
•
Democracies within the African continent – alias African Union (AU) - should
developed alongside the practice of the rule of law and adherence to human
rights, both essential dimensions of democratic transformation processes;
•
All AU members’ states are requested to make democracy support core
business, i.e. forge working partnership between the State and the private sector.
Including other vital stakeholders:
•
Governments should create the necessary environment for strengthening
political parties, both those in power and the ones who are in the opposition
through raising awareness and the provision of technical assistance on agenda
building:
•
Government should encourage political parties to strive towards
creating/improving intra-party democracy for effective management of party
affairs. For instance, gender equality ought to be enhanced and selection of
leaders and election candidates be more democratized:
•
Codes of conduct for political parties and other stakeholders should be
enforced to regulate their role in the democratic process:
•
Governments should create an enabling environment for international and
regional political party coalition (COD Santiago, Chile, 2005)
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