Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T13:42:08.931Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Studying Public Opinion in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2009

Michael Bratton
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Robert Mattes
Affiliation:
University of Cape Town
E. Gyimah-Boadi
Affiliation:
University of Ghana
Get access

Summary

During the 1990s, Africans voted for new leaders because they were tired of economic mismanagement by despotic presidents. They went to the polls with high expectations that improvements in the quality of life would follow from competitive elections. Before long, however, citizens began to feel that politicians' promises about the benefits of political and economic reform were not being met. In a focus group discussion in Zambia's rural Southern Province just one year after the country's historic founding election, a peasant farmer asked: “Why should I vote (again) when I didn't get what I expected?” As another participant in Lusaka put it: “People hoped for miracles after the elections. Now they blame democracy.”

How common is this line of reasoning? Do Africans generally make connections between their life satisfactions and support for new political regimes? Or do they tend to fall back on deep-seated cultural values in deciding whether democracy and markets are right for them? Do they make well-informed judgments when deciding whether to support a new regime or participate in it? Or do they reflexively lapse into old habits, such as loyally voting for the ruling party and continuing to trade through government-controlled marketing agencies, regardless of institutional performance?

This chapter introduces our argument that attitudes to reform in Africa derive from popular learning. It makes a case that Africans learn about reform by gaining awareness of the issues at stake and choosing among alternative courses of action.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×