On April 30, DAI’s Joseph Siegle joined Pentagon officials and other Africa experts as a panelist for a seminar examining the question, “Has Democracy Plateaued in Africa?”

Part of the Defense Department’s Africa Discussion Series, the seminar also featured panelists Ambassador Mark Bellamy from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Akwe Amosu from the Open Society Institute, and Ambassador Howard Wolpe of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

Dr. Siegle—DAI’s Senior Advisor for Democratic Governance—presented his analysis of changes in African democracy over the past two decades. Despite recent setbacks such as electoral crises in Kenya and Zimbabwe, he noted, “more African countries are making democratic advances than suffering declines, a pattern that has largely held up for the last 20 years.” Sixty percent of African countries are now on a democratic path.

The panelists discussed current risk factors for nascent and established democratic regimes in Africa, including the spike in global oil and food prices, the challenges of establishing democracy in post-conflict environments, the natural resource curse, China’s growing engagement on the continent, and the difficulties of overcoming legacies of corruption.

“While these challenges pose significant obstacles,” concluded Dr. Siegle, “the overall trend toward democracy in Africa remains positive.”