Election Campaigning in sub Saharan Africa: Democracy, Societal Cleavages and Social Media

How these cleavages are reflected within the election campaigns and the extent to which they are being impacted by demographic changes within these countries is important for understanding the trajectory that sub-Saharan African nations are on in terms of their democratic culture. This volume explores the national election campaigns across the nations of sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is important in a number of ways. Democracy in this region is fragile, fraught with corruption and election outcomes thus open to contestation. The rule of law also tends to be fragile and highly politicized, and where societies are polarized can lead to minorities being subjugated by a majority. Hence the way elections are conducted, their outcomes and how communication flows through the nation’s networks are crucial questions for understanding the cultures of these societies. Secondly, many societies are divided along ethno-religious lines as well as cleavages emerging between generations. In terms of the latter, populations are increasingly younger, more technology literate and less wedded to traditional ethno-religious cleavages. Similarly, women are increasingly assertive regarding their proscribed position in societies and are developing their own models for activism. How these cleavages are reflected within the election campaigns and the extent to which they are being impacted by demographic changes within these countries is important for understanding the trajectory that sub-Saharan African nations are on in terms of their democratic culture. Thirdly, social media has become an important tool for both political communication as well as the flow of information across civil society and the broader citizenry. Therefore, key questions need to be asked about the integrity of the information environment and the extent that disinformation, from political party leaders and candidates, from civil society or from external actors, impacts the election.