Is there a contradiction between the socio-cultural requirements of the western democratic system and African social structures? To answer this question, this study aims to demonstrate that there are no fundamental contradictions between Africans and Westerners in terms of the democratic values to be promoted. Each people must be able to build its own model. In the first part, the study demonstrates the unsuccessful transposition of the Western democratic model to Africa. The cause is to be found in African practice, which reveals an institutional and legal duality that favors the cohabitation of legitimacies that come from the ballot box and those that do not, whose status differs and whose relationship with each other is confused and likely to provoke conflicts. This means that African democracy functions according to the Western colonial model, even if African social structures still function at the local level. The second part emphasizes the building of a true democracy through culture, whose value is recognized in the norms, institutions, rites and customs of a people. This promotion of positive African values and traditions suggests borrowing from the West only what is compatible with the deep nature of African civilization. This wise and realistic mix needs the unconditional support of the international community. We live in a time of struggle for values. All peoples, even those who were dominated, are trying to propose their values that they consider better.
| Published in | International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 6, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21 |
| Page(s) | 76-87 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Democracy, Development, Culture, Partnership, Reforms
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APA Style
Omorou Zackaria Toure. (2023). The Western Democratic Model Facing African Political Cultures. International Journal of Law and Society, 6(1), 76-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21
ACS Style
Omorou Zackaria Toure. The Western Democratic Model Facing African Political Cultures. Int. J. Law Soc. 2023, 6(1), 76-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21
AMA Style
Omorou Zackaria Toure. The Western Democratic Model Facing African Political Cultures. Int J Law Soc. 2023;6(1):76-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21,
author = {Omorou Zackaria Toure},
title = {The Western Democratic Model Facing African Political Cultures},
journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
volume = {6},
number = {1},
pages = {76-87},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20230601.21},
abstract = {Is there a contradiction between the socio-cultural requirements of the western democratic system and African social structures? To answer this question, this study aims to demonstrate that there are no fundamental contradictions between Africans and Westerners in terms of the democratic values to be promoted. Each people must be able to build its own model. In the first part, the study demonstrates the unsuccessful transposition of the Western democratic model to Africa. The cause is to be found in African practice, which reveals an institutional and legal duality that favors the cohabitation of legitimacies that come from the ballot box and those that do not, whose status differs and whose relationship with each other is confused and likely to provoke conflicts. This means that African democracy functions according to the Western colonial model, even if African social structures still function at the local level. The second part emphasizes the building of a true democracy through culture, whose value is recognized in the norms, institutions, rites and customs of a people. This promotion of positive African values and traditions suggests borrowing from the West only what is compatible with the deep nature of African civilization. This wise and realistic mix needs the unconditional support of the international community. We live in a time of struggle for values. All peoples, even those who were dominated, are trying to propose their values that they consider better.},
year = {2023}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Western Democratic Model Facing African Political Cultures AU - Omorou Zackaria Toure Y1 - 2023/02/21 PY - 2023 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21 DO - 10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21 T2 - International Journal of Law and Society JF - International Journal of Law and Society JO - International Journal of Law and Society SP - 76 EP - 87 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2640-1908 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20230601.21 AB - Is there a contradiction between the socio-cultural requirements of the western democratic system and African social structures? To answer this question, this study aims to demonstrate that there are no fundamental contradictions between Africans and Westerners in terms of the democratic values to be promoted. Each people must be able to build its own model. In the first part, the study demonstrates the unsuccessful transposition of the Western democratic model to Africa. The cause is to be found in African practice, which reveals an institutional and legal duality that favors the cohabitation of legitimacies that come from the ballot box and those that do not, whose status differs and whose relationship with each other is confused and likely to provoke conflicts. This means that African democracy functions according to the Western colonial model, even if African social structures still function at the local level. The second part emphasizes the building of a true democracy through culture, whose value is recognized in the norms, institutions, rites and customs of a people. This promotion of positive African values and traditions suggests borrowing from the West only what is compatible with the deep nature of African civilization. This wise and realistic mix needs the unconditional support of the international community. We live in a time of struggle for values. All peoples, even those who were dominated, are trying to propose their values that they consider better. VL - 6 IS - 1 ER -
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