This Discussion Paper identifies key negative trends that are impairing Africa’s democratic electoral progress and traces how the current malaise came about. The authors draw on select themes that emerged from a recent high-level international dialogue on African elections convened by the Brenthurst Foundation in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, as well as additional research.

Considerable attention is devoted to Africa’s dramatic transition to competitive elections after 1990 in the context of unsteady and uneven democratisation both on the continent and, more recently, globally. It explores the different uses or ‘meanings’ of elections and the challenges of building institutions in the periods between them. Issues which have borne heavily on the integrity of recent elections – such as campaign funding and new technology – are examined in detail.  The final part of the Paper provides a glimpse into the means to tackle these negative trends – an election playbook for democrats.

Paper by the Brenthurst Foundation