Parliaments and Democracy in Africa

The project is a part of the "Maria Sibylla Merian International Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences"

Completed. Funded by the BMBF (Bundesminsiterirum für Bildung und Forschung), 200.000 €, duration 2019-2020. 

Convenors: Dr. Anja Osei, University of Konstanz, and Dr. Seidu Alidu, University of Ghana. Principal Investigators Prof. Dr. Katharina Holzinger, University of Konstanz; Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD)

Parliaments are the “central institutions of democracy that embody the will of the people in government, and carry all their expectations that democracy will be truly responsive to their needs” (Beetham 2006: 1). African parliaments are, however, among the most under-researched institutions, despite the considerable efforts of the African Legislatures Project to provide basic information on legislative capacity (Nijzink, Mozaffar & Azevedo 2006). It is thus the aim of this study group to investigate and compare legislative behavior in African countries with different democratic credentials. The group was convened at the University of Ghana, Legon/Accra from September to December 2019 and consisted of international scholars (Germany, Ghana, UK, US, Australia, Togo, Benin, Gabon) from different disciplines (Political Science, Geography, Sociology, Economy). Among the activities were research collaborations, public lectures, and policy disseminations. In all, the group produced a number of research papers that will be made available in the MIASA working papers series.