Governance and Democracy in Africa: Regional and Continental Perspectives by James S. Guseh and Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor (review)

Africa has experienced a checkered pattern of political development. It has experienced different kinds of governmental arrangements, both in their pure and distorted forms, all of which are contributory to its governance and development challenges. The ascendancy of globalization and its emphatic prescription of democracy as the catalyzing force for "economic growth and human welfare as well as laying the foundation of sustainable development" underpinned its appeal and embrace by African countries (2). One may also add that African countries did not have much of a choice on this issue due to the new logic of development spawned by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its socialist institutional arrangement. James S. Guseh and Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor are eminently qualified to embark on this scholarly odyssey of both unraveling the democratic trend and illuminating the interconnections between democratic governance and economic development in Africa. Both scholars have worked in Africa in various capacities and, therefore, have first-hand knowledge of democratic governance in Africa to be able to "provide a comprehensive and the most up-to-date assessment" (vii).

The book is structured into seven chapters and five appendices. The first chapter contextualizes Africa's struggle and experimentation with democratization and democracy, including the interregnum of militarism and authoritarianism and the various distortive attempts to devalue democracy, such as the abolition of term limits and subversion of people's mandate through election rigging. The second chapter provides an insight into the theoretical basis that anchors the book's analysis. The authors choose the political economy approach on the basis of the reinforcing influences of politics on economics and vice versa and delineate good governance, democracy, political freedom, and size of government as the pivotal variables to underpin the trajectory of assessments. The third chapter assesses the trends of democratic governance in the five sub-regions of the continent. The chapter describes democratic governance on the continent as a mix of progress and retrogression. The authors identify the major drawbacks to democratic consolidation on the continent as political instability, authoritarianism, violent conflicts, and corruption. There is, therefore, overall poor democratic credentials in Africa with the only exception being Southern Africa where the dismantling of racist regimes has ostensibly led to progressive institutionalization of democratic governance.

The fourth chapter presents case studies of South Africa and Ghana. Employing the tripartite evaluative parameters of government size, political freedom, and economic growth, the authors demonstrate different outcomes for both countries with regard to the influence of political liberalization on economic growth. While South Africa recorded positive economic outcomes, the same was not true for Ghana as a result of differences in their institutionalization of democratic norms. The fifth chapter evaluates Nigeria using the same evaluative parameters earlier deployed in studying South Africa and Ghana. The outcome of the assessment is the confirmation of the centrality of political freedom in the promotion of economic growth. The sixth chapter examines the link between the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and economic growth in Africa and concludes that despite being operational since 2000, it has not significantly resulted in economic growth in beneficiary countries due to certain detrimental conditionalities attached to it, especially the rule of origin provisions and restricted areas of trade. The seventh and final chapter specifically focuses on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The contention of the authors is the unlikelihood of NEPAD catalyzing African development due to its emphasis on development assistance and over-dependence on foreign capital in the face of weak financial commitments by developed countries.

The strength of the book lies in its readable style, which is devoid of clichés, jargon, and technicalities. To that extent, it is easily accessible to policymakers, students of democracy, and any inquisitive mind that wishes to have an updated assessment of democratic governance in Africa. Despite its readability, the book could have been considerably bettered by an evaluation of EU-Africa relations instead of...