Consensus as Democracy in Africa

Some philosophers on the African continent and beyond are convinced that consensus, as a polity, represents the best chance for Africa to fully democratise.

In Consensus as Democracy in Africa, Bernard Matolino challenges the basic assumptions built into consensus as a social and political theory. Central to his challenge to the claimed viability of consensus as a democratic system are three major questions: Is consensus genuinely superior to its majoritarian counterpart? Is consensus itself truly a democratic system? Is consensus sufficiently different from the one-party system? In taking up these issues and others closely associated with them, Matolino shows that consensus as a system of democracy encounters several challenges that make its viability highly doubtful.

Matolino then attempts a combination of an understanding of an authentic mode of democracy with African reality to work out what a more desirable polity would be for the continent.

Reviewer's Comments: 

‘… both an enquiry into the conceptual meaning and coherence of the claims made for consensual democracy and […] a reflection on the ways in which the precolonial past informs the political choices faced by the African continent.’ – Professor Andrew Nash, Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town

Part of the African Humanities Series