A
survey conducted by the East African Institute of the Aga Khan University
showed that between 68-90 percent of East Africa’s youth held positive views
about democracy and would participate in elections. However, trust in politicians
was as low as 40 percent.
One could be persuaded to suggest that
East African youth fancy the idea of elections or democracy but disdain its
outcomes – politicians and government. However, confidence and trust government
in “Strong leader” models like Rwanda was as high as 80%. Waning trust in
politicians and government is not unique to East African youth. There is an
emerging and worrying trend if mistrust between citizens and government.
According to Pew Research Center, fewer
than 30 percent Americans have expressed trust in the federal government in
every major national poll conducted between 2007 and 2015. Similarly, a recent
World Values Survey, which polled 73,000 people in 57 countries revealed that
trust in government and institutions of democracy such as political parties has
reached a historical low.
The perceptions of East Africa’s youth
underscore a deep and concerning contradiction; passion and apathy for
politics. Essentially, youth are enthusiastic about the political process but
deeply distrusting of the outcomes of political participation. Clearly the
youth appear to honor and respect elections but despise the people they elect,
the politicians and the governments they form.
There is a crippling decline in the
belief that government can even deliver on services or aspirations of the
youth. It is not surprising that while up to 90 percent of youth have a
positive view of elections, less than 30 percent of East African youth reported
that they had benefited from government initiatives. Moreover, youth trust
family and religious institutions more than they trust government or
politicians.
The youth are a consequential majority
in every sense, political and socio-economic. About 80 percent of the estimated
146 million East Africans (excluding South Sudan), are below the age of 35
years. How youth engage in the electoral process, and their perception and
confidence in the political process has strong political and socio-economic
implications for the future of East Africa.
But the magnitude of mistrust in
politics and government by citizens must lead us to question or wonder if
elections are the best mechanism for transforming the collective will of the
people into tangible social or economic outcomes. Elections are even less
believable as expressions of the collective will of citizens especially when
fear mongering, misinformation and manipulation in the electioneering period
inundate voters.
The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights is flawed to the extent that it conceives elections as the embodiment of
democracy. Elections can cause all kinds of outcomes like Brexit and the
possibility of a Trump presidency. In Africa elections have been associated
with violence, ethnic cleansing, political instability and economic decline.
Globally, there is a growing perception
that elections are gravely antiquated tools, which could undermine democracy if
they are not enhanced with more enlightened forms of public participation.
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