What Is Democracy?

It is what happens before, during, and after elections - from local to national level. Democracy has been popularly understood by some African leaders as elections and so the electioneering has come to represent the most important element of democracy in much of Africa. However, what happens before, during, and after elections are critical to democracy. In fact, elections do not matter if dictatorial tendencies are the modus operandi before, during, and after elections. I have increasingly come to see that where people are not allowed to express their disapproval of governmental actions openly, especially after elections, there is no democracy. When democracy is defined as elections it begins to give the impression that anyone who wins an election, even by crooked means, can do whatever they want with the country, as people like Paul Biya, Mugabe, Yaya Jammeh, Abdoulaye Wade, and others are doing. They become kings after elections rather than listening to people. Democracy exists where politicians can be forced to change course of action even after elections. Where people are not given the opportunity to vent their displeasure with government actions, as is currently the case with Senegal, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and a host of other such rogue states, there is no democracy. Democracy happens where people are free to protest without the government sending the police to teargas and bludgeon them. In Africa, therefore, dictatorships are passing for democracy because the ruling elites have come to define democracy as elections.