ABSTRACT
The demands for multipartyism and democracy in Tanzania are the culmination of a long and cumulative struggle against authoritarian rule. From outside Tanzania there were the familiar influences of the demise of the Soviet Bloc, the rise of globalisation and the growing Western insistence on democratisation as a condition of aid. Much of the literature on participation through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Tanzania, and its limitations in advancing democracy, can be seen as a microcosm of the wider literature on the subject in the Third World as a whole. External aid has brought many benefits to Tanzania, both in terms of material benefits and in promoting self-help and articulating a variety of demands in a more plural system. Tanzania appears to have many advantages to any potential democracy promoter. Democracy emerged as a result of a realisation by incumbent rulers that the cost of prohibiting opposition would outweigh the benefits.
