ABSTRACT
There is a rapidly growing literature on democratization in Africa but very little of it deals with the role that communications, or the media, play. This is all the more surprising given that social movements and other voluntary associations, that have played a significant role in democratizing countries in regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe, have been quite weak in African countries. Therefore, our assumption is that media have been relatively more influential in shaping the emerging, but still fledgling, democratic culture in Africa.
