Constitutionalism in Africa's Democratic Transitions

Stephen N. Ndegwa

《Taiwan Journal of Democracy》 1卷1期 (2005/07) Pp. 133-168

https://doi.org/10.29654/TJD.200507.0006

並列摘要

In Sub-Saharan Africa, all forty countries that transitioned to competitive politics in the 1990s marked their liberalizations with initial or subsequent constitutional changes. Based on qualitative studies of four model countries, this essay elaborates a theoretical argument on constitutionalism in these democratic transitions. Two central concerns are highlighted: First, struggles to ensure broadly participative processes of constitution-making-indicative of emergent conceptions of a people's sovereignty. Second, struggles to secure presidential term limits-indicative of lessons from personal rule and of emergent notions of limited government. Because of stalemates and some violent confrontations, such contests over norms and, fundamentally, over how norms will be authored, are often viewed by several analysts as reflecting immense problems in these transitions, leading to descriptions such as ”quasi,” ”protracted,” or ”virtual” democracies. Instead, this essay demonstrates that such contests underscore the evolving character of these democracies, which is fundamentally progressive and positive rather than pathological.

參考文獻

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Daily Nation