Elections of one sort or another have taken place in all 48 sub-Saharan African countries in the past decade. On a continent that has also experienced some 83 successful coups in half a century, this is often cited as a mark of progress.

Many elections, however, have not in themselves translated into greater stability or social justice. In most countries, voting has merely added trappings to a new form of one-party rule, where incumbent regimes control electoral machinery and use patronage and oppression to maintain power. A slew of election setbacks have, meanwhile, revived doubts as to whether a continent riven by ethnic discord and beset by development challenges is yet suited to western democracy.