The wave of democratisation in sub-Saharan Africa in the wake of the Cold War was met with widespread scepticism. Many observers portrayed democratic reforms as mere “window dressing” to satisfy western aid donors, unlikely to alter dysfunctional patterns of governance seen in much of the region. Yet three decades later, African democracies outperform their autocratic counterparts on key indicators of governance quality – such as government effectiveness and corruption control. Explaining democracies’ superior record does not require blind faith in abstract democratic ideals. Crucial advantages of democracy are grounded in the accountability mechanisms they provide, which offer periodic opportunities for…
Rod Alence
Rod Alence
Rod Alence is Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he has been based for twenty years. At Wits, he developed and coordinates a Master’s programme in computational social science. His research focuses on the political economy of development and democracy. He is currently involved in a multi-year, multi-country research project on election observation and peace-building in Africa, with colleagues from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa. He received an AB degree from Columbia University and MA and PhD degrees from Stanford University. While doing his doctoral research, he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Ghana, and his thesis won the American Political Science Association’s annual award for best in the field of political economy.
