Across Africa, democracy is still a very young system of governance. The age of democracy in each country helps contextualise its level of maturity and effectiveness.
*The first competitive election refers to the first multiparty election that occurred either after independence (without a foreign head of state) or in direct preparation for the transition to independence. If the country has never experienced a military coup or pause in elections after their first competitive election, they are considered an uninterrupted democracy.
This map shows the number of years that have passed in the country's current, uninterrupted period of democracy. Countries that no longer holding competitive multi-party elections or have never held them are labeled as "Non-democracy."
Dive into detailed data on Africa's age of democracy through a visual table. This table will display each African country's number of years since their first competitive election, indicate whether they have experienced uninterrupted democracy, and show the duration of their current continuous democratic governance. The closer the alignment between the years since the first competitive election and the duration of uninterrupted democracy, the more developed the country's democracy is.
Additionally, explore a timeline of Africa's democratic evolution, presented through a map that highlights the duration of uninterrupted democracy in each country. This metric reflects how long each nation has successfully maintained democratic governance without military coups or authoritarian rule. By factoring in multiparty elections and the absence of coups, the map provides a comprehensive view of the democratic progress across the continent.
Find out which African nations boast the longest-standing democratic practices. These visuals are crucial for assessing the maturity and effectiveness of democratic systems across Africa.