Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana is missing from part of the countries raking in the top 50 in terms of democracy in the world, according to a new report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Stockholm.
The report shows that Botswana is not ranking in the top 50 for Representation—credible elections and effective parliamentary oversight—has deteriorated, including in well performing democracies.
The report shows that Representation is currently an area of weakness across the continent. “Only two African countries rank in the top 50 for Representation in the world: Cabo Verde and Ghana. South Africa follows these countries in 54th place,” the report says. It shows that the African countries with the biggest falls in ranking between 2021 and 2022 were Burkina Faso, Tunisia and Guinea-Bissau. Kenya showed the most notable improvement in the rankings.
These declines in Representation at the national level have, for the most part, followed one of two major patterns, the report says. First, it says, several countries have experienced coups d’état, unconstitutional changes of government and other ‘undefined transitions’, whose outcomes remain uncertain. Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Sudan stand out in this regard, and their Representation scores have all dropped to zero.
“The wave of coups continued in 2023 with the overthrowing of the governments in Niger and Gabon. In the second pattern, broader democratic declines have been seen in, for example, Benin, Comoros, Mauritius and Tunisia,” the report says. It says this was reflected in lower Representation scores, as political competition has been limited by government policies and new laws—shown by declines in Credible Elections.
“Note, however, that these declines are from a relatively high level, and all four countries remain above the continental average for Credible Elections. In the case of Tunisia, the recent decline has not erased the improvements made during the democratic transition, and the 2024 election will offer an opportunity for the country’s young institutions to regain their footing,” the report says.
It should be noted, however, the report says, that the continental average for Credible Elections is worryingly low (0.38). As this factor tracks several others that measure the independence and effectiveness of EMBs, it highlights weakness in a key CI and points to an important area for investment to secure democracy in the region.
In a globally comparative context, the report says, Rights remain another challenging area in Africa. Only two African countries rank in the top 50 globally in 2022: South Africa and Tunisia.
“The movements in the rankings in this category between 2021 and 2022 were less dramatic than in Representation, however, Botswana, Mali and Ethiopia all fell in the rankings. The biggest gains over one year were made by Zambia, Tanzania and The Gambia,” the report says.
Within the area of rights, a key focus across Africa is Civil Liberties. The report says there has been concern in many countries about the shrinking of civic space. Due to its dual nature as a civil liberty and an important CI, media freedom deserves special attention.
The Freedom of the Press factor has seen significant declines over the last five years in Eswatini, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, South Sudan and Togo. The report illustrates the deterioration in Freedom of Expression, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Association and Assembly, Freedom of Religion, and Freedom of Movement for the eight countries that have experienced significant declines in their overall score for Civil Liberties over the last five years.
It says an area of particular interest, given this report’s focus on the formal and informal institutions and practices that limit state power, is the status of the Rule of Law on the continent. Only three African countries rank among the top 50 globally in this category: Botswana, Namibia and Cabo Verde (see also the case study on Cabo Verde).
Over a one-year period, the countries with the most significant falls in the rankings were Tunisia, Mauritius, Burkina Faso and Niger. The biggest gains over the period were in Zambia and Mozambique. Performance in this category was broadly low, but there have been significant advances and declines in countries’ performance compared with five years ago.
Several countries with declines in this area were also noted above, for Representation, but Central African Republic, Comoros, Eswatini, Mauritius and Tunisia also all saw declines, with threats to Judicial Independence a common (but not universal) theme. The countries experiencing advances included some starting from a very low level of performance, but significant improvements were noted in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Malawi and Togo.
Despite the contraction of civic space noted above, the Participation category is an area of strength across the continent. In the other three categories of democratic performance, only two or three African countries are ranked among the world’s top 50.
In Participation, nine African countries are in the top 50: Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, South Africa, Burkina Faso and Zambia. There was also a great deal of movement in the rankings between 2021 and 2022. The biggest falls were in Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Malawi. At the same time, Kenya and Zambia rose dramatically. The improvement in Zambia is part of a larger pattern of opening up civic space, which has included legislative actions such as the repeal in 2022 of a long-abused colonial-era law criminalizing defamation of the president (Short 2022).
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