ABSTRACT
According to Freedom House, fully half the 48 states of Sub-Saharan Africa are democracies today, but analysts will inevitably differ on whether the glass is half-full or half-empty. When Africa's 'second liberation' began in 1990, the continent was home to just three countries that could be called democracies with a total population of only about three million. The African Democracy Forum now links dozens of organizations from 30 countries on the basis of a common desire to advance the related causes of democracy and good governance. On average, Africa ranks in the 30th percentile, a little better on the political measures of accountability and stability, but slightly worse on the measures of rule of law, and governmental effectiveness. In Africa, contending patron-client networks organize along ethnic or subethnic lines, and the president sees his ethnic kin as the most reliable loyalists in the struggle for power. Africans are increasingly aware of their political rights and demanding of democracy.
