Africa Center

Authoritarian governments desperately want people to think that when a democratic leader fails, democracy has failed. But democracy doesn't promise perfect leaders, only a system for holding them accountable to the people (unlike authoritarianism).

https://www.ned.org/winning-the-battle-of-ideas-exposing-global-authoritarian-narratives-and-revitalizing-democratic-principles/

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Winning the Battle of Ideas: Exposing Global Authoritarian Narratives and Revitalizing Democratic Principles - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY

A new report by Dr. Joseph Siegle analyzes how top-order authoritarian narratives serve as a vital tool to amplify autocrats’ influence and reshape the international landscape.

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
Feb 20, 2024 at 7:44pmWeb
Show threadAfrica CenterFeb 20, 2024

Democracy fails not when leaders fail, but when people lose their voice. This is why responding to poor leadership by a coup is counterproductive: it removes not only the leader's power, but the people's as well.

https://africacenter.org/spotlight/term-limit-evasions-coups-africa-same-coin/

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Term Limit Evasions and Coups: Two Sides of the Same Coin

African leaders evading term limits is linked to higher levels of autocracy, corruption, conflict, and propensity for coups.

Africa Center
Show threadAfrica CenterFeb 20, 2024

This is also why authoritarian governments support coups—not because people in power in Moscow or Beijing want Malians or Nigeriens to have better leaders, but because when people lose faith in democracy, they are less critical of authoritarian systems.

https://africacenter.org/spotlight/africas-coups-and-the-role-of-external-actors/

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Africa’s Coups and the Role of External Actors – Africa Center for Strategic Studies

The recent rise in coups in Africa reflects a waning regional and international willingness to enforce anti-coup norms. Reversing the trend requires incentivizing democracy and consistently imposing real costs on coup makers.

Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Show threadMichael Downey 🧢Feb 20, 2024

Still no one in #Africa co-leading the so-called @africacenter I see.

#WhiteSaviorism #MilitaryIndustrialComplex

https://africacenter.org/leadership/