Democracy Works explores how we can learn to nurture and deepen democracy in Africa to ensure economic growth and political stability.

It identifies a ‘democratic playbook’ to meet the threats to free and fair elections. But substantive democracy demands more than simply regular polls.

Democracy is fundamentally about the inner working of institutions, the rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and leadership in government and civil society, as much as it is about values and the welfare and well-being of its citizens.

It also demands that local leadership has a plan for the country beyond simply winning the popular vote.

Democracy Works is directed toward leaders and citizens who want to address the extreme demographic and other challenges that Africa faces.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Greg Mills directs the Brenthurst Foundation. An adviser to several African presidents and to COMISAF in Afghanistan, he is the author of, among others, Why Africa is Poor: And What Africans Can Do About It and Why States Recover: Changing Walking Societies into Winning Nations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Olusegun Obasanjo was president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 and chairperson of the African Union from 2004 to 2006.

Tendai Biti is a constitutional lawyer, human rights activist, and former Zimbabwe finance minister.

Jeffrey Herbst is President of the American Jewish University, Los Angeles. A political scientist, Professor Herbst taught at Princeton University for eighteen years and is the author of States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control and many other books and articles. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Board of Freedom House, he has served on the advisory board of The Brenthurst Foundation since 2005.

Democracy Works is published by Pan Macmillan South Africa