Accounting for colonialism and culture in innovating democracy: Challenges, shortcomings – and a research agenda

Against the backdrop of democratic crisis phenomena (e.g. citizens’ increasing disenchantment and disengagement with established political institutions and elites), a wide range of democracy scholars and practitioners has called for “democratic innovations”. “Democratic innovations” here usually refers to institutional devices that provide more and/or more immediate, intensified participatory means to citizens with the aim of strengthening existing democracies’ legitimacy. This rather broad definition of “democratic innovations” already indicates that a variety of participatory formats may fit the bill and may be used to improve citizen engagement and satisfaction. Furthermore, academics are divided with regards to the precise role that democratic innovations can (and should) play: should they supplement existing liberal-representative institutions to “rescue” liberal democracy and its underlying principles, or are more foundational reforms and alternative ways of “doing democracy” required? Neither “liberal democracy” nor citizens’ disenchantment and disaffection with established elites and institutions are phenomena that occur solely in the so-called “Global North” or “the West”. Nevertheless, debates about democratic innovations are – with very few exceptions – led in the political context of Western democracies’ crises and against the backdrop of theoretical-conceptual frameworks that originate in Western political thought. Strategies for reinvigorating democracy on the African continent, by contrast, frequently have been implemented and studied as part of western-led development projects. In consequence, not just liberal democratic governance, but also “democratic innovations” are mostly “culturally blind” implementations of models and standards developed in the Global North/West. By now, a growing number of African political philosophers and theorists are taking critical stances towards liberal democracy and are engaged in the quest for alternative, ways of “doing democracy”. In this paper, we aim at bridging the gap between these debates led among African scholars and democratic innovations scholarship. Reflecting on the extensive effects of colonialism on African politics and cultural specifics in diverse African communities, our paper tackles two questions that are crucial for attempts at “innovating democracy”: (1) What “homegrown” democratic practices and institutions have the potential to innovate African democracy and address citizens’ disaffection? In how far do innovations that are based on citizen deliberation fit “homegrown” democratic practices? (2) What can or should be the role of such “homegrown democratic innovations” within established institutional infrastructures (that usually have been implemented by colonial powers): should they supplement, support or replace established liberal democratic institutions? While it will not be possible to provide conclusive answers to these rather broad questions, we will draw from exemplary attempts at “innovating democracy” in East Africa and take this assessment as a point of departure to discuss and identify a research agenda for “decolonizing” the theory and practice of democratic innovations.