Democracy In Africa

Endorsing democracy as a western norm has been a priority for the United States and Western European foreign philosophy since the end of the cold war. To understand the effects of Western democracy on third world continents and countries such as Africa is of maximum importance. For instance, during the period 4th to 6th October 2007, a conference was organized in Ghana to examine and evaluate the heights of African countries toward, or away, from improved association of democratic progressions and advancements entitled Democratization in Africa: What Progress Towards Institutionalization? This assessment of the conference in the small West-African country was co-sponsored by the United States Embassy in Ghana, the Center for Democratic Development

It is thus a form of government in which the sovereign power resides in and is exercised by the whole body of free citizens, as distinguished from a monarchy, aristocracy or oligarchy. And as Abraham Lincoln so famously stated, it’s ‘a government of the people, by the people and for the people’.

It then follows that a certain number of elements must be present for a government to be considered a democratic one. There must exist a respect and/or protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens by the government. Essentially, the human rights of the people which is considered as representing sine qua non requirements for the well performing of a democratic system must be protected ; free and fair elections are also considered as one of the main pillars of democracy alongside the assurance of the rule of law which is a principle that states that all citizens are equal before the law; and lastly, the element of separation of powers which requires that the three arms of government, that is, the legislative, executive and judiciary all exercise their functions independently and without undue influence or control from another arm of government

This leads the author to conclude that even though most western institutions and countries are preaching and/or imposing their values of good governance and democracy on African countries, it can authoritatively be said that they are turning a blind eye to corruption and abuse of political power in the countries from whence the highest oil exports occur . Which point reinforces this papers contention that the availability of oil in Africa forms one of the main reasons as to the interest of the western world in Africa and their emphasis on their perception of