ABSTRACT
Democracy has perennially taken a backseat to the imperatives of economic development, national cohesion and political stability in post-independence West Africa. Political incumbents routinely dismissed multi-party democracy as a Western invention that was more likely to retard development, undermine national unity and threaten stability than improve the lot of impoverished populations. Post-colonial democratic institutions and processes were hurriedly cast aside and replaced by single-party and military dictatorships that pledged to maintain political stability, foster national integration and promote economic development. But developmental or benevolent dictatorships turned out to be rare occurrences. What emerged instead were predatory regimes that deflated state capacities, privatised violence, informalised economies and sowed seeds of discord and rebellion. The failure of authoritarian regimes to deliver on their developmental promises led to renewed public demands across Africa for a more representative and transparent system of governance. Democracy, however, has to do better than authoritarianism in fostering economic development and national cohesion or risk rejection and replacement by demagogic alternatives (Sklar 1986).
