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Rulers and Their Elite Rivals: How Democratization Has Increased Incentives for Corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Elites, Institutions and the Quality of Government

Part of the book series: Executive Politics and Governance ((EXPOLGOV))

Abstract

Over the past two decades most African countries have become more democratic but the quality of governance has declined. Although multiparty politics with regular elections have become the norm and a majority of countries have now held a fourth and fifth round of elections (Lindberg, 2006; Lynch and Crawford, 2011), indicators of quality of government show decline, despite theoretical expectations that democracy should lead to improvements. This chapter contributes a theoretical argument, focused on elite–ruler relations, that explains the mismatch between our existing theories and observed empirical realities in Africa.

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Authors
  1. Michelle D’Arcy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Gothenburg, Sweden

    Carl Dahlström (Professor) & Lena Wängnerud (Professor) (Professor) &  (Professor)

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© 2015 Michelle D’Arcy

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D’Arcy, M. (2015). Rulers and Their Elite Rivals: How Democratization Has Increased Incentives for Corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Dahlström, C., Wängnerud, L. (eds) Elites, Institutions and the Quality of Government. Executive Politics and Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137556288_7

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