6. Political Culture in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Democratic Values in South Africa and Kenya

This chapter starts with an introduction on the subject of democratic backsliding, followed by a review of data to establish if, and if so to what extent, freedom and democracy are regressing generally, and in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular. The focus falls on political culture and democratic values as indicators of the strength of democracy. Starting with an overview of the region to provide context for comparing South Africa and Kenya, the chapter offers a brief overview of the political histories and democratic governance in both countries. The analytical section starts at the macro-level but moves on to the micro-level on the assumption that democratic institutions must be supported by a corresponding democratic political culture if democracy is to flourish. For this part of the analyses, the study relies on data from Afrobarometer and constructs its argument using a hierarchical model that distinguishes between a political system and attitudinal constructs.