NYT: Nigerian Elections Following Trend of Discontent with Democratic Practice in Africa
New York Times: Africa’s Crisis of Democracy
By Lydia Paulgreen
April 23, 2007 | Printer Friendly

 A New York Times report quotes experts who characterize the elections in Nigeria “a significant setback for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa.”  The article indicates that there is a general trend of discontent with democratic practice on the continent. The New York Times uses recent data from the Afrobarometer, a public opinion survey, to demonstrate this trend, saying that “satisfaction with democracy dipped to 45%$ from 58% in 2001.”  More specifically in Nigeria, 25% of respondents were satisfied with democracy in their country, compared to 84% in 2000 following their first elections in 1999. 

The report attributes this dissatisfaction to the mixed results of elections across the content.  Despite a growing number of elections in Africa, “many of their citizens are steadily losing confidence in their democracies,” largely due to “political stagnation, democratic backsliding, and state failure.”  Despite the “stagnation” of democracy in Africa, Freedom House has shown a large improvement over the past 30 years.  In 1976 three African countries were graded in their annual survey, Freedom in the World, as “Free,” and 25 were listed as “Not Free.” By 2006 ““the not-free category had shrunk to 14 states and the bulk of Africa now falls into the ‘partly free’ category.”