ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the background to and the dimensions of the electoral crisis in Africa within the context of the current democratization process on the continent. It discusses, in theory, the correlation between election and democracy, its limits and ecology. The chapter underscores what possibly has gone wrong with the electoral process and electoral politics in Africa and its implications for the future of the democracy project on the continent. Conceptually, election symbolizes popular sovereignty and the expression of the “social pact” between the state and the people, which defines the basis of political authority, legitimacy, and citizen's obligations. In terms of its origin in Africa, an “election” is a colonial contraption, which was evolved as part of the institutional transfer of the superstructure of the liberal democracy. Alternative political choice in competitive multiparty elections and democratic politics became palpable.
