Democracy, elections and political parties: A conceptual overview with special emphasis on Africa

A credible democratic political system requires credible elections which, in turn, require the participation of credible political parties

This paper develops, in a manageable manner, a conceptual framework in order to adequately define the essentially contested concepts of democracy, elections and political parties. There is much overlap in these concepts which are abundantly used in both academic and policy-making circles, and it is undoubtedly essential to make distinctions between them if a nuanced understanding is to be gained. This paper establishes that democracy denotes mainly a form of political system in which citizens are effectively able to choose their leaders in competitive elections. Furthermore, this paper argues that elections, which need to be administered by impartial electoral institutions, watched over by independent judicial institutions and monitored by qualified observers, should not be conflated with democracy and should only be seen as its primary prerequisites. It also maintains that, despite falling short of both international and local expectations, African elections constitute a necessary condition for democracy to thrive. And, this paper defines political party as a political institution which is sensitive to the demands of particular constituencies, and has the ability to contest several elections. It also uncovers the nature of African political parties which tend to be mostly ethnic-based, personalised and non-institutionalised. All in all, this paper puts forward the thesis that, in Africa as elsewhere, a credible democratic political system requires credible elections which, in turn, require the participation of credible political parties.

About the author

Mr Berouk Mesfin is currently a Senior Researcher for the Direct Conflict Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies office based in Addis Ababa. He has worked as a defence analyst at the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence, as a consultant on elections, and as political adviser to the US embassy in Ethiopia. He also worked as a lecturer of Political Science and International Relations at Addis Ababa University, and as a research associate to the Institute of Development Research and the Institute of Federal Studies.