State Actors and Democratic Recession in Africa: Experience from Ghana and Kenya

Abstract

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in its annual Democracy Index report on global democratic performance, along with the Afrobarometer 2024 reports, have reached a consensus on the decline of democracy worldwide and in Africa, respectively. The Varieties of Democracy 2025 report states that only 28% of the world’s population currently lives in democracies. Out of 167 countries and territories, 71 are classified as democracies and 96 as nondemocracies, a sharp drop from 123 democracies out of 193 countries in 2006. While Africa saw a wave of democratic transitions in the third wave of democratization—40 countries moved to democracy (Huntington, 1991)—today only 7 African countries remain democracies. Even established democracies like Ghana and Kenya face silent democratic erosion despite experiencing stability and having institutions such as the Judiciary, Legislature, Executive, and Electoral Commissions. Ghana has experienced a democratic recession since 2016, and Kenya since 2017. This thesis adopted a mixed-methods approach to analyze the patterns of democratic recession in these countries, focusing on the role of the executive in undermining democracy through electoral manipulation. It finds that there is no uniform pattern of democratic recession in Africa; instead, it varies by state. The interaction between the executive and other state institutions worsens democratic decline, with electoral violence and manipulation orchestrated by executive powers. Moreover, institutions intended to safeguard democracy are often exploited by executives to weaken it. The study recommends that Ghana pay close attention to its ongoing constitutional review and consider changing its system of government and reduce the appointment power of the executive. It also urges greater involvement of Civil Society Organizations in both countries, the strengthening of opposition parties in Kenya, and calls on Kenyan youth to break the cycle of tribal politics. This analysis reveals that democratic recession in Africa is nuanced and driven heavily by the misuse of state institutions by executive actors, undermining the continent’s democratic gains.