28 of the countries in Africa were classified as electoral autocracies in 2022. Since 2018, there has been a decrease in the number of democracies in Africa, both liberal democracies and electoral democracies. Military coups in the West African countries Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso have caused democratic decline in these countries, but Sudan, Malawi, and the Central African Republic have also seen democratic backsliding in recent years.
Number of countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by regime type
The V-Dem Institute defines the different regimes as follows:
Closed autocracy: citizens do not have the right to choose either the chief executive of the government or the legislature through multi-party elections.
Electoral autocracy: citizens have the right to choose the chief executive and the legislature through multi-party elections; but they lack some freedoms, such as the freedoms of association or expression that make the elections meaningful, free, and fair.
Electoral democracy: citizens have the right to choose the chief executive and the legislature in meaningful, free and fair, and multi-party elections.
Liberal democracy: electoral democracy and citizens enjoy individual and minority rights, are equal before the law, and the actions of the executive are constrained by the legislative and the courts.
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OWID. (March 2, 2023). Number of countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by regime type [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379516/countries-africa-regime-type/
OWID. "Number of countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by regime type." Chart. March 2, 2023. Statista. Accessed December 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379516/countries-africa-regime-type/
OWID. (2023). Number of countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by regime type. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: December 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379516/countries-africa-regime-type/
OWID. "Number of Countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by Regime Type." Statista, Statista Inc., 2 Mar 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379516/countries-africa-regime-type/
OWID, Number of countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by regime type Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379516/countries-africa-regime-type/ (last visited December 22, 2024)
Number of countries in Africa from 1990 to 2022, by regime type [Graph], OWID, March 2, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379516/countries-africa-regime-type/