TY  - JOUR
T1  - Legitimizing the State in Africa: The Democratic Imperative
AU - Etemike, Laz 
JO  - Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences
VL  - 9
IS  - 3
SP  - 108
EP  - 112
PY  - 2012
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1683-8831
DO  - pjssci.2012.108.112
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=pjssci.2012.108.112
KW  - Africa
KW  -democracy
KW  -state
KW  -Legitimizing
KW  -constitution
KW  -ideology
AB  - The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the fall of Apartheid regime in South Africa ushered a new phase of democratic wave in Africa. Democracy suddenly, assumed a legitimizing factor within the international sphere. Some have argued that the period was a period of the triumph of capital and its liberal democracy with strong emphasis on good governance. External and internal pressure forced a wave of democratization process on African states in the 1990s. Instead of institutionalizing democratic ethos a new set of autocratic leaders clad in democratic garb emerged. These leaders changed the constitution at will to elongate their tenure and turned elections into a state-regulated noncompetitive model. African states in their present form seem to be battling with legitimacy crisis. Above all the new wave of global economic crisis has debunk the so presumed triumph of capital. The state in Africa is thus in a confused state, administratively, ideologically, politically and democratically.
ER  -