Discuss the types of states in Africa

1. DEMOCRATIC STATES
The main features of liberal democracies include:
i) More than one political party competing for power.
ii) Competition for power is open, not secretive and is based on established and accepted forms of procedure.
iii) Entry and recruitment to positions of power is relatively open.
iv) Periodic elections based on universal franchise.
v) Pressure groups are able to influence government decision
vi) Associations such as trade unions and workers organizations are not subject to close government supervision.
vii) Civil liberties such as freedom of speech and religion, freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of association are recognized. This assumes that there is substantial amount of independence and freedom from government control of the press.
viii) There is some form of separation of powers i.e. representative assembly has
some form of control over the executive and judiciary is independent of both
executive and legislature.
Democratic states in Africa are a recent phenomenon. After independence several African
countries that had been former colonies of Britain adopted the west minister parliamentary
systems of government that provided for political pluralism. By the end of the first decade of
independence, African states such as Malawi, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Zambia had deteriorated
into one party authoritarian political system. Others like Nigeria and Zaire degenerated into
military regimes.
Democratization process in Africa can be traced to the end of the cold war in the late 1980s.
The collapse of Soviet Union led to countries in Eastern Europe opting for transition to liberal democracy. This wind of change blew from Eastern Europe across Africa in the early 1990s.
By 1994, not a single de jure one party state remained in Africa. In its place governments
adapted new constitutional rules that guaranteed basic political liberties, placed limits on tenure and power of chief political executives and allowed multi-parties to exist and compete in elections. (Michael Bratton 1997:10)
Democracy then is a form of political regime in which citizens choose in competitive election,
the occupants of the top political offices of the state. The election has to be fair and conducted within the matrix of civil liberties. (Michael Bratton op.cit: 13)
The transition from authoritarian to democracy has forced African countries to enact legislation that will allow constitutional reforms, so as to put in place an enabling environment on which representative democracy can be nurtured.

2. AUTHORITARIAN STATES
Authoritarian regimes characterized Africa’s political map in the second decade of
independence. Authoritarianism begun with the consolidation of personal rule by African
heads of state. They constructed procedural defenses against being voted out of the office.
Political succession took place when either a coup was successfully organized or when an ailing
civilian strongman installed a handpicked successor.
Authoritarianism was manifested in two forms, one through military regimes and secondly
through inauguration of de jure one party political states. Those in need of state control
manipulated the citizens because the state was an instrument for individual and or group
enrichment. Those that competed for power resorted to the use of the military as an important
mechanism to access state machinery. In the last four decades of independence virtually every
African country had been subjected to an attempted coup (Robert Mortimer 1992:12)

The other categories of authoritarian regimes are the one party state. These were a common
feature in Africa prior to 1990. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Seiko Toure of Guinea
personification of power and heavy reliance on bureaucracies. It is interesting to note that both African countries that pursued socialism ideology on one hand and capitalist ideology on the other ended up developing authoritarian one party systems that were extremely oppressive to
the people. For Kwame Nkrumah the convention people’s party symbolized the state and the
state represented the party. The elevation of the party to the position of the state led to
increased coercion and repression of those that believe otherwise. State control of the economy
led to rise in corruption. By 1966 Kwame Nkrumah hand turned into a despot. The use of one
party state as an instrument of oppression and domination is best exemplified in Kenya under
the rule of Mr. Daniel Arap Moi. In the period 1978 to 1988 the Kenya African national union,
KANU was more powerful than all the three arms of the government namely the Executive
council, legislature and judiciary. (George Ayitey 1992: 159-165). KANU Party officials from
the village to the national level terrorized Kenyans. These officials just like the chairman of the party who was also the president operated above the law.

3. MILITARY STATES
These states are characterized by excessive abuse of human rights, brutality and oppression. In
the period 1957 to 1988 almost two thirds of African countries had experienced a coup detat.
However, countries like Nigeria and Uganda experienced long periods of military rule. The
entrenchment of a democratic culture since the 1990,s has reduced incidences of coup de tats
and thus relegated military states in Africa to the past.
Military regimes are characterized by coups and counter coups. There are no elections. There is decline in economic growth; repression of opposition functionaries is brutal and excessive. There is no guarantee of basic human rights.
Institutions of governance e.g. legislative assembly and judiciary have minimal functions. The state is over centralized and narrow. The state is run by a council of Army Generals

4. SOCIALIST STATES
Socialism was a fashionable ideology for countries in Africa that wanted to cut links with
imperialism. It is evident that countries that had been ruled by the French were more inclined
to socialism than those that had been dominated by the British. In most of the French colonies,
national struggle for independence was characterized by violence and use of military force.
Algeria is a case in point. Countries that had been colonized by the Portuguese also opted for
socialist system of government. It is only Tanzania that had been under the British that chose
to become socialist. African countries that chose socialism were convinced that economic
growth rate would be very high in a socialist made of production in contrast to capitalism;
African socialist states had the following features.
- Political system dominated by one political party.
- Central planning for the economy and a relative absence of private ownership.
- Freedom of expression and association are limited.
- The press is censored.
- No concept of separation of powers and limited judicial independence.
Examples of socialist states that developed in Africa included; Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia,
Mozambique, Tanzania and Algeria. Most of these states ended up changing to military
regimes. However Tanzania has discarded socialism and adopted capitalism. The same applies
to Ghana, Senegal and Ethiopia.

5. AFRO-MARXIST STATES
These were African states such as Somalia Mozambique adopted the ideology of Marxism-
Leninism in the organizational structures of their governments. They dismissed socialist states
in Africa paying a lip service to the ideals of socialism. They did point out that socialism has to be founded on the ideas of Karl Marx and specifically the working class to control political and economic power. It is their emphasis on the development of a revolutionary working class that made their systems of government to be unique from socialist governments and thus obtained the identity of Afro-Marxist states.
Whereas Somalia has since 1991 disintegrated into a state without a government, Mozambique
is struggling to maintain its Marxist-Leninism ideology amid a regional and global environment
which emphasizes democracy. The fall of Soviet Union in 1992 has made communism and
Marxism a marginal ideology which is associated with authoritarianism and dictatorship.
Mozambique has challenges in maintaining its afro-Marxist system of government because the
international community no longer entertains such types of states. For it to have a voice in a
community of modern states it has to transform to democracy.

6. MONARCHIES
Monarchies were prevalent in Europe, prior to the industrial evolution. The last half of the 19 th century, saw the growth of democracies in Europe. However there are still a number of
countries in Europe where monarchies exist. In such countries the queen or king is the head of
state. A Prime Minister leads the government. Examples of such countries include United
Kingdom and Scandinavian countries. In the Middle East monarchies are intact.
The King is the head of state and also has executive powers. In Africa, monarchies still thrive
in Morocco and Swaziland. Here the King is head of state and government. He is the chief
executive. These African monarchies are constitutional monarchies. The king rules with the
help of a constitution. Just like one party states monarchies are authoritarian, particularly those that have the king/queen as the chief executive. Political space in monarchies is closed.
Governance is a preserve of a specific clan or dynasty.

7.GOVERNMENTS OF NATIONAL UNITY
This new typology of African States has emerged in the 21 st century. Kenya and Zimbabwe
represent models of governments of national unity in Africa. These are governments which
have been formed out of contestation for power between opposition political parties and the
ruling party. In the two countries, the opposition parties lost to the incumbent regime in the
December 2007 and March 2008 general Elections. The opposition parties led by Raila Odinga
in Kenya and Morgan Tvsangirai in Zimbabwe argued that they had won the elections but the
incumbent government had rigged the election results. In the two countries violence broke out
after the results of the elections were announced. In order to contain the violence, the
international community had to negotiate a deal between the leadership of the opposition party
and the ruling party where power was shared among the two contesting political parties. It is a
type of government of convenience until the next general election takes place. (Nabende
2010:111-112)
This type of state compromises the tenets of democracy because it does not provide for active
multiparty politics. Government of national unity freezes political pluralism and thus works
against growth of a democratic culture.

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Titany answered the question on October 28, 2021 at 09:05