The paradoxical image of democracy, votes, and elections in the selected African states

Modupi Selepe and Mary Mehlape
Additional contact information
Modupi Selepe: Department of Public Administration, University of Limpopo, South Africa
Mary Mehlape: Department of Public Administration, University of Limpopo, South Africa

International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 357-363

Abstract: Voting and elections are regarded as quintessential democratic and policy behaviours. The problem with elections is that they do not fully mean democracy. The rationale behind the latter is that regular, free and fair elections do not provide for individual freedoms, political equality, empowerment, an independent civil society, a free press, or scope for deliberation-all key components of liberal democracy. Moreover, elections serve as a pivotal instrument designed to express and simultaneously reinforce the principles (representation, equality, and participation) on which democracy is founded. In democracy, communities exercise their voting rights to elect their representatives, who in turn hold the bureaucracy accountable for implementing decisions that affect the welfare of local communities. Looking at South Africa among African countries, the introduction of a democratic dispensation came with opportunities for the previously excluded citizens. Therefore, Section 195 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, emphasizes that 'people' needs must be responded to and the public must be encouraged to participate in policy making. The Paper seeks to give a comparison of democracy and elections in selected African countries. Often countries tend to practice elections and perceive democracy differently. This conceptual paper employed the use of a desktop study and has retrieved its basic contribution and argument from the existing literature on democracy and elections in Africa. Furthermore, the article discovered that in most cases citizens’ beliefs, preferences and behaviors change through political engagement, and further recommends that during voting campaigns and elections, a diversity of issues such as culture, beliefs, tradition, and individual preferences should be considered Key Words: Elections; Democracy; Africa; Politics; Public administration

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/2748/2075 (application/pdf)
https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i8.2748 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:12:y:2023:i:8:p:357-363

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478) is currently edited by Prof.Dr.Umit Hacioglu

More articles in International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478) from Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance Editorial Office,Baris Mah. Enver Adakan Cd. No: 5/8, Beylikduzu, Istanbul, Turkey. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Umit Hacioglu ().