| | The recent moves by some African governments to abandon rigid systems of political rule in favour of much more open systems came after years of internal pressures for democratisation in Africa (Anyang 'N'yong'o, 1987). In certain cases, such as Cote d'Ivoire and Zambia, these pressures had been simmering below the surface for years. The political regimes in these countries, though generally classified as 'one-party regimes' , enjoyed substantial legitimacy until the mid-1980s. In both cases, decline in economic growth occasioned by the fall in the world market prices of their exported primary commodities, was partly responsible for the internal political crisis. As the standard of living of the vocal middle classes was threatened by a tight economic atmosphere, profligate bureaucrats and politicians came under severe attack for corruption and mismanagement. The single-party regime was immediately seen as the casus belli, and democracy as the necessary panacea (Ham, 1990). |
