Demokratisering i Subsahariska Afrika : En jämförande studie av de demokratiska skillnaderna i Namibia och Zimbabwe

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study was to compare the difference in democracy in two Subsaharan African countries. Namibia and Zimbabwe were compared in order to discover factors as to why there is a significant difference in democratic status in otherwise quite similar countries. To be able to do this, Linz and Stepan’s theory of consolidated democracy was used. The study used three of their five arenas, civil society, political society and the rule of law society, which were the basis of the analysis. To answer the purpose of the study, two questions were used; “What does civil society, political society and the rule of law society look like in Namibia and Zimbabwe 2023?” and “What factors make Namibia more democratic compared to Zimbabwe 2023?”. The study was qualitative and used a comparative method with a most-similar design to answer the purpose and questions. The conclusion was that Namibia’s civil society, political society and rule of law society functions broadly in accordance with democratic values and fulfills Linz and Stepans arenas to a large extent, while Zimbabwe has not progressed as far in its democratization process according to the arenas or in comparison with Namibia. Zimbabwe’s government is using autocratic tactics to consolidate their power which hinder the arenas to operate democratically.