AFROBAROMETER SURVEYS

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Afrobarometer Surveys Chart African Views on Democracy

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Afrobarometer Surveys Chart African Views on Democracy

The map shows countries where Afrobarometer surveys have been conducted or are planned(*).

Afrobarometer is the first polling service to use surveys of attitudes and opinions to gauge Africans' sentiments about democracy and economic growth.

In South Africa, for instance, Afrobarometer surveys typically include about 2,500 people who represent members of the country's 10 provinces and come from various backgrounds: white, black, Indian, indigenous, urban, and rural.

Afrobarometer is a recurring survey in 15 African countries—none of them are war zones. It asks questions about politics, economics, and major issues such as corruption and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Most Africans interviewed in 2002-03 said they consider themselves better off than they were under previous non-democratic regimes. Two-thirds of adults say they support democracy and larger proportions reject military rule and personal dictatorship.

Three-quarters of respondents said that violence used for political ends was never justified, even if those ends are just. Some 77 percent said they disapprove of coups, 76 percent reject dictatorship, and 67 percent object to one-party rule. Three-quarters also said they favor term limits for presidents.

The graphs illustrate three topics covered in a recent Afrobarometer survey and respondents' replies.

Defining poverty as a lack of food rather than a lack of cash, Africans in 13 of the 15 surveyed countries consider themselves poorer today than their parents were a decade ago. But the survey has some bright spots, including a belief held by most respondents that their children will lead better lives than they do.

Last year, almost half of the Africans interviewed said the condition of their national economy was bad. More than 40 percent said unemployment was one of the priorities government should address.

The AIDS epidemic is touching nearly every life in Africa, the survey found. In countries such as Uganda and Kenya, more than two-thirds of respondents said they had lost at least one close friend or relative to HIV/AIDS. And in Malawi, a quarter of those surveyed said they spend at least five hours each day caring for children whose parents died of the disease.

Started in 1999 and supported by various USAID missions, the Afrobarometer network includes the University of Michigan, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, Ghana's Center for Democratic Development, and several local research organizations.

Referred to as "pioneering work" in the arena of comparative politics, Afrobarometer this year won a prestigious award from the American Political Science Association.

"There are no comparable democratic governance surveys like this in Africa, and we want to support Afrobarometer…so that they can monitor and evaluate the evolution of democracy and governance over time," said Carla Komich, a governance specialist with the Bureau for Africa.

The barometer has inherent value, but it also helps USAID planning, program design, and evaluation, she said.

Since 1999, several missions have funded Afrobarometer surveys in their countries for as little as $10,000 each. But in August, the Bureau for Africa and the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance added another $436,000 to fund future polls. The funds will help extend the surveys into new countries, mainly in Francophone Africa.

The South Africa mission, which has funded three Afrobarometer surveys, often uses the survey's findings in its annual reports, said Stephen Snook, the local democracy and governance (DG) officer.

"It is very helpful, as we use the question on support for democracy over other political systems as our DG program's 'context indicator,'" said Snook. "It also provides a wealth of information on attitudes toward issues of the day as well as economic issues."

The 15 surveyed countries are Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Benin and Madagascar will soon start surveys too.