Domesticating Democracy: Culture, Civil Society, and Constitutionalism in Africa

Abstract

ONE DEMOCRACY, MANY CULTURES?

This discussion is intended to convey a way of studying, thinking and writing about socio-political transformation in Africa that avoids the pitfalls of hasty and sweeping generalization and contributes to a more balanced understanding and informed appreciation of the complex process of liberalization and democratization in Africa in the late twentieth century. This assumes an urgent need for systematic documentation based on empirical investigation involving extended field work.