Democracy in Africa: successes, failures, and the struggle for political reform by Nic Cheeseman (review)

Nic Cheeseman’s book is a compelling overview of democratization in sub-Saharan Africa. The book represents an effective, analytical distillation of major debates and themes in the study of democracy in Africa. By navigating a broad, complex area of inquiry, Cheeseman develops one of the best syntheses of democratization in Africa since the seminal works of Staffan Lindbergh, Nicolas van de Walle and Michael Bratton.

The book’s chapters address eight major themes: democratization and the depth of reform; civil society and clientelism; authoritarianism before post-Cold War democratization; the end of single-party states and the rise of multi-party competition; donors and democracy promotion; violence and the advantages of incumbency; the benefits of democracy; and managing multi-ethnic states in democratic contexts.

The book has three great strengths. First is its comprehensiveness. In some 250 pages, the book covers a huge amount of ground and does so fluently. The result is a usable, broad-gauged introduction to the core questions and debates in the field.

Second is the case material. Cheeseman weaves examples into his analytical points with great effectiveness and the book admirably covers the entire sub-Saharan region. Cheeseman is perhaps best known for his research on Kenya, but that country does not dominate this book; Cheeseman draws on case material from Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries. The result is a wideranging empirical tour of issues around democratization in Africa, and as a teaching tool the book makes many abstract ideas concrete. Third is the sophistication with which Cheeseman treats most topics. On the one hand, the book is a survey of core issues surrounding democratization; on the other, the book delves into the complexities of each topic, and in many cases Cheeseman develops specific claims about the theme under discussion. The author develops his analytical points through prose and through data. One example (of many) of the latter is when he presents thoughtful results on questions such as the vote share when a sitting president seeks re-election versus instances when an incumbent is not running (p. 182), or a flow chart showing six different pathways of transition (p. 96). The result is that the book, while offering a comprehensive introduction, also presents original empirical material and contributes to shaping a research agenda on democratization in Africa.

Despite these strengths, which are considerable, the book has some limits. One is the absence of an argument that stretches down the book’s spine. Cheeseman develops many incisive sub-arguments in each chapter but the book lacks an overarching, core claim. Indeed, the book’s animating research question is not clear. This criticism may be unfair: the book is a reflective overview. Still, readers who seek a core theory of democratization in Africa are likely to be disappointed.

The claim that comes closest to a core theory is presented in the introduction, where Cheeseman argues that democratization in sub-Saharan Africa has proceeded ‘against the odds’. He deploys a theoretical framework derived from Robert Dahl to explain the broad direction of a country. When the costs of reform are more acceptable and the costs of repression more unacceptable, leaders will pursue greater political liberalization (and vice versa). The author, in turn, develops some points about the costs of repression and reform, such as the unity and strength of the opposition, the capability and loyalty of the security forces, the strength of legal institutions, the resources available to incumbents, and the possible threats of prosecution. This discussion expands into a broader analysis of neo-patrimonialism, ‘gatekeeper states’, and the weakness of nationalist independence movements as barriers to democratization. The points are smart and intriguing, and occasionally referenced in the interior chapters, but overall these claims hover over the book without sustained empirical substantiation.

A book of such scope will inevitably have some lacunae. Despite being in the...