Godwin R. Murunga and Shadrack W. Nasong'o (eds), Kenya: the struggle for democracy. London: Zed Books (pb £19.99 – 978 1 84277 857 9). 2007, 344 pp.

Kwame Boafo-Arthur (ed.), Ghana: one decade of the liberal state. London: Zed Books (pb £19.99 – 978 1 84277 829 6). 2007, 303 pp.

These two books, both of which appear in CODESRIA's new ‘Africa in the New Millennium’ series, offer timely studies of the fate of democratic experiments in Kenya and Ghana, respectively. The recent spate of democratic backsliding has led Africanists into what is sure to be a long period of soul searching as to whether the ‘third wave’ has really taken hold in Africa. The cases of Kenya and Ghana offer two very different perspectives on this question. Kenya, often seen as one of Africa's stronger and more stable states, enjoyed a long period of civilian rule that many assumed would make the process of democratic transition less painful. In contrast, following independence Ghana suffered cycles of coup and counter-coup, spending most of its post-colonial existence under different forms of military rule which, to the outsider at least, did not appear to represent a promising foundation on which to build a peaceful and stable multi-party system. Despite this Ghana is now widely ranked as one of a handful of African countries that are genuinely politically free, while the optimism regarding Kenya's transition disappeared in the ashes of Kibera, Kisumu and Eldoret. Taken together, Kenya: the struggle for democracy and Ghana: one decade of the liberal state offer important insights into the very different trajectories of their case studies.

Murunga and Nasong'o's collection is an impressively broad review of multi-party Kenya. The chapters, almost all of which are authored by Kenyan academics, cover an impressive depth of material including religious and social movements, youth, women, the police, and economic governance. The collection is excellent in a number of respects. First, it does a very good job of showing the past of the present, tracing the historical roots of Kenya's political institutions and the behavioural patterns of elite actors. Second, the analysis is consistently well informed, clearly written, and thought-provoking. Finally, the collection takes a refreshingly critical look at both Kenyan political leaders and those that have studied Kenya. This protest against the complacency exhibited by much of the literature regarding the prospects for democratic consolidation in Kenya is powerful and necessary, although the impact of Murunga and Nasongo's combative introduction is partially neutralized by their decision not to name directly the main targets of their criticism.

The most striking aspect of their book is the critical nature of the contributions. From Shadrack Nasong'o's review of civil society, to Adams Oloo's discussion of the contemporary Kenyan opposition, through Maurice Amutabi's critique of the role of intellectuals in the democratization process, and on to Stephen Brown's concluding contribution on the role of donors, the faulty foundations of Kenya's democracy are analysed and exposed. Given that these chapters were all written before the Kenya crisis of 2008, Kenya: the struggle for democracy is a remarkably prescient and farsighted body of work. Throughout the book the various authors identify three main themes that can be seen to have served to undermine the process of democratic consolidation. The first is the refusal of Kenya's political elite to abandon older political logics and recognize democracy as the only game in town. As Mshai Mwangola documents in her important chapter on youth and generational conflict in Kenya, the elite has consistently prioritized securing its own position to the detriment of the nation as a whole. The second is the lack of reform of key institutions. This is most apparent in Murunga and Nasongo's work on the failed process of constitutional review, Oloo's thoughtful analysis of the weakness of Kenyan political parties, and Edwin Gimode's dissection of the role of the Kenyan police in underpinning the authoritarian policies of the executive. Finally, there is the problem of the partisan nature of civil society coupled with the rise of militias, which have eroded the state's monopoly over the legitimate use of force. This theme is touched on more tangentially, although Shadrack Nasongo's review of the important role of Kenyan social movements and NGOs in forcing the transition from authoritarian rule and Margaret Gecaga's chapter on religious movements are useful contributions to the literature on this subject. As forthcoming studies of the Kenya crisis by Susanne Mueller, John Githongo, and Emma Lochery and David Anderson make clear, it was precisely this combination of factors which coalesced to bring multi-party Kenya to the brink of collapse in early 2008.

In contrast, Ghana: one decade of the liberal state reads more like a celebration than a revisionist critique. Rather than foretelling disaster, the main question raised by the authors is how to complete the transition to a ‘liberal state’. Indeed, unlike their Kenyan counterparts, Ghana's happy experience under multi-party politics frees the contributors, all of whom are based at the University of Ghana, Legon, to consider a wide range of topics that include various different perspectives on the county's economic performance along with Ghana's foreign relations. However, there are more than enough chapters that deal with the nitty gritty of domestic politics, including papers on the protection of human rights, organized labour, and the role of women in Ghanaian politics. The range of insights into Ghana's political stability and democratic progress make this a fascinating read, and will no doubt secure the volume a place on reading lists for African Studies and Democratization courses.

Clues as to Ghana's success come thick and fast in the middle section of the book. Nicholas Amponsah effectively emphasizes the importance of institutions to democratic reform, arguing that that growth and development only occur in state systems where there is institutional credibility. In finding that a lack of trust in the state, notably around land acquisition, has undermined Ghana's economic recovery, his analysis is persuasive, but even so Amponsah's work makes it clear that the Ghanaian state is significantly less arbitrary and more reliable than its Kenyan counterpart. Kumi Ansah-Koi applies a different lens to the importance of institutions, noting the imperative of bringing the military under civilian control and of democratizing the main security agencies. While pointing out that the security forces still have a long way to go, Ansah-Koi concludes that Ghana has made impressive and significant progress in reforming these organizations, to the end that these agencies have now ‘abandoned those practices and deeds of the past’ that were incompatible with democratic values. Amponsah and Ansah-Koi's review of the process of institutional reform and development in Ghana throws the importance of the frequent erosion and subversion of institutions by Kenyan political leaders into sharp relief.

Alexander Frempong shifts the focus to the relationship between political conflict and the elite, emphasizing the importance of elite consensus on the rules of the game for the process of democratic consolidation. As Frempong argues, the Ghanaian political elite may not yet be fully immersed in democratic ‘culture’, but their willingness to find grounds for agreement on how politics should be conducted has underpinned one of Africa's most remarkable and promising transitions. Frempong's analysis is nicely complemented by Joseph Ayee's chapter on the oft-neglected but critical role of political leadership in conditioning the success of democratic transitions. Profiling the presidencies of Jerry Rawlings and John Kufuor, Ayee argues that while neither was perfect, both exhibited some of the qualities necessary to manage a successful democratic transition, most notably Kufuor's willingness to uphold the ‘collegiate face of government’. The main lesson we can take from Boado-Arthur's collection appears to be that Ghana's political stability has been underpinned by the combination of institutional reform and elite consensus; the willingness of political leaders to strengthen political institutions has contributed to the emergence of a more resilient political system that has in turn helped to create a trusting political environment, thus strengthening the foundations of the elite consensus.

In summary, these are two valuable books are destined to become essential reading for students of Kenya, Ghana and the process of democratization more generally. Despite being written before the Kenya crisis, Kenya: the struggle for democracy offers an excellent analysis of its roots for those seeking to understand these disturbing events. The insights of Ghana: one decade of the liberal state are less urgent, but no less important. Taking the two books together reveals the importance to the process of democratic consolidation of elite cohesion, institutional reform, and the rejection of violence by both civil society and political leaders.