National democratic reforms in Africa: Changes and challenges

Abstract

If the political narrative of Africa in the twentieth century was one of liberation and independence, the story since the end of the Cold War has focused largely on different nations’ often painful attempts to institute good governance and democratic reforms. Experiences have differed across countries, with countries at different levels and trajectory of democratic progress. The struggle for democracy is alive and active in Africa with differing encounters, contours, setbacks and successes. This volume brings together seven incisive case studies from diverse contexts-including post-conflict Sierra Leone and Liberia; Uganda, and the young nation of South Sudan-to distill broad insights into the troubled progress of democratic reforms across the African continent.