Posted by Chester Morton / Thursday 24 November 2016 / No comments
Why the one-party system is no longer popular in Africa
Definition of one-party
A one-party system refers to the political party system in which
only one party has access to the political power of the state. A one-party
could be de facto or de jure. If it is de facto, it means there are other
political parties in existence but one particular party overshadows all the
others. If it is de jure, then it means by law only one party is allowed to
operate in the country.
Role of Western countries
Most African countries depend on donor funds from the first
world countries and other Brenton wood institutions of the West. When it was
realized that most African countries were not allowing for democratic principles
to prevail, the Western countries started to link donor funds to the
introduction of democracy. This largely led to the decline of one-party system.
A cue from Asia
Another reason why one-party system is no longer attractive
is the success story of the Asian countries. Many countries in Asia which have
adopted democracy have seen a tremendous change in their economic fortunes.
This is what African countries desired for themselves and in order to get there
they needed to adopt democracy hence the decline of one-party systems.
The collapse of the Soviet Union
Many of the African countries looked towards the socialist
system of the former Soviet Union to perpetuate the one-party system in their
various countries. In this regard, they received some form of economic support
from them. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent withdrawal of some of these assistance, the African countries were forced to shift toward the West
and western democracy. Part of the conditions for assistance from the West was the abolition of the one-party system.
Fear of losing donor funding
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the adoption of
western democracy by many of the former Soviet Union republics, the western
countries started supporting them to find their feet. The African countries now
have to compete with these newly born democracies from the east. If they
refused to adopt democracy, African countries were going to be starved of western
funds, so they had to quickly jettison one-party system for western democracy.
Call from international human rights institutions
The operation of one-party system for such a long time led to
the abuse of human rights since there were no checks on the rulers. Human
rights institutions like the Amnesty International have always called for the
respect of human rights in many African countries. These calls over the years
yielded benefits when most of the countries started opting for democracy.
Internal agitations
There came a time when elements within the African countries
started clamouring for the introduction of democracy. They used protests,
demonstrations, boycotts and other tools at their disposal to put pressure on
the rulers to abandon one-party system and replace it with Western democracy.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. a. What is a one-party system of government?
b. Highlight five
reasons why African countries have abandoned the one-party system. [10 marks]
2. Give six reasons why the one-party system is no longer
popular in Africa. [12 marks]
