“Once I know that I can remember
whenever I like, I forget.”
—Umberto Eco
“Once I know that I can remember whenever I like, I forget.”
—Umberto Eco
Elections are not democracy, whether in Africa or elsewhere. Central is the respect for two basic principles that define the relationship between a government and society: the right to free assembly and the right to free speech. Both are needed for any popular movement to function, and so any government that holds elections while clamping down on protest simply should not be viewed as democratic.