ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the actions of four critical actors: the incumbent regime, opposition forces, armed forces and the international community. It then outlines the transitional paths that can be identified in Africa. Finally, it assesses the modes of transition taken by SSA states in order to find common characteristics among successful transition cases. While the transition processes varied greatly, from transition through ruptures to foreign-backed transitions, all successful transitions established political limitations on the actions of the various political forces; in a large number of successful democratisation cases, this political
limitation was put in place through formal or informal agreements among the main actors. These constraints also came from other factors, namely the weakness of incumbent elites, demands by foreign actors or even fear that political alternatives could result in major civil strife and/or coups. Furthermore, with a few exceptions, successful democratisation was accompanied by the creation of relatively strong opposition parties to prevent the incumbent from monopolising power.
