Leadership turnovers in Sub-saharan Africa: from violence and coups to peaceful elections | ISPI
Skip to main content

Search form

  • INSTITUTE
  • CLERICI PALACE
  • CONTACT US
  • MEDMED

  • login
  • EN
  • IT
Home
  • INSTITUTE
  • CLERICI PALACE
  • CONTACT US
  • MEDMED
  • Home
  • RESEARCH
    • CENTRES
    • Asia
    • Cybersecurity
    • Europe and Global Governance
    • Business Scenarios
    • Middle East and North Africa
    • Radicalization and International Terrorism
    • Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia
    • Infrastructure
    • PROGRAMMES
    • Africa
    • Energy Security
    • Global cities
    • Latin America
    • Migration
    • Religions and International Relations
    • Transatlantic Relations
  • ISPI SCHOOL
  • Publications
  • EVENTS
  • CORPORATE PROGRAMME
    • about us
    • Closed-door meetings
    • Scenario Conferences
    • Members
    • Executive Education
  • EXPERTS

  • Home
  • RESEARCH
    • CENTRES
    • Asia
    • Cybersecurity
    • Europe and Global Governance
    • Business Scenarios
    • Middle East and North Africa
    • Radicalization and International Terrorism
    • Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia
    • Infrastructure
    • PROGRAMMES
    • Africa
    • Energy Security
    • Global cities
    • Latin America
    • Migration
    • Religions and International Relations
    • Transatlantic Relations
  • ISPI SCHOOL
  • Publications
  • EVENTS
  • CORPORATE PROGRAMME
    • about us
    • Closed-door meetings
    • Scenario Conferences
    • Members
    • Executive Education
  • EXPERTS
Analysis

Leadership turnovers in Sub-saharan Africa: from violence and coups to peaceful elections

19 August 2013

Abstract

Many African countries replaced their military or single-party regimes with pluralist politics during the early 1990s. This led to the introduction and regularisation of multiparty elections for the selection of a country’s president or prime minister. Of course, in many places, elections were not enough to start genuine democratization processes, as non-democratic rulers rapidly learned how to manipulate the vote and survive in the new political environment. Yet empirical evidence from our new “Leadership change” dataset – covering all 49 sub-Saharan states since 1960 (or subsequent year of independence) to 2012 – shows that elections did alter quite profoundly the way ordinary Africans can influence the selection and ousting of their leaders. Coups are now a rarer phenomenon, leadership turnovers have become more frequent, and peaceful alternation in power through the ballot box, if still uncommon, is part of a new political landscape.

*Giovanni Carbone, Associate Professor of Political Science, Università degli Studi di Milano

 

 READ THE STUDIES "FROM AUTOCRACY TO DEMOCRACY: AFRICA'S EXPERIENCES"

Read more:

Kenya’s Elections: Too Close to Call
Giovanni Carbone
Head, ISPI Africa Programme
,
Lucia Ragazzi
ISPI Africa Programme
Kenya: Food Insecurity Adds Pressure to the Electoral Campaign
Giorgia Amato
Università Roma Tre
The Ups and Downs of Kenya’s Evolving Institutions
James D. Long
University of Washington
Kenya’s Election and Economy: A Growth Challenge?
Giovanni Carbone
ISPI and Università degli Studi di Milano
Kenya’s 2022 Transitional Elections and the Media’s Role
Wilson Ugangu
Multimedia University of Kenya
Why the Elections in Kenya Matter for the East African Community
Donald Mogeni
Independent Researcher

Tags

Africa election Sub-Saharan africa Arab Spring Democracy
Versione stampabile
Download PDF

GET OUR UPDATES

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

About ISPI - Work with us - Experts - Contact - For Media - Privacy

ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) - Palazzo Clerici (Via Clerici 5 - 20121 Milan) - P.IVA IT02141980157