Substantive Majoritarian Consensual Democracy A Critical Response to Matolino's Consensus as Democracy in Africa
Afro-communitarian thinkers have often pointed to consensual democracy as a valuable feature of traditional African societies. African philosophers, including Kwasi Wiredu and Bernard Matolino, have drawn attention to this pattern of political arrangement to consider what the political practice mean...
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| Published in: | Theoria (Pietermaritzburg) Vol. 72; no. 182; pp. 89 - 108 |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans English |
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Berghahn Books, Inc
01.03.2025
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| ISSN: | 0040-5817, 1558-5816 |
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| Abstract | Afro-communitarian thinkers have often pointed to consensual democracy as a valuable feature of traditional African societies. African philosophers, including Kwasi Wiredu and Bernard Matolino, have drawn attention to this pattern of political arrangement to consider what the political practice means for modern African politics. While Wiredu praissed consensual democracy and sought to explore how it could be relevant for contemporary African democratic development, Matolino finds it undesirable. In the book Consensus as Democracy in Africa, Matolino identifies several significant concerns with the theoretical and practical feasibility of consensual democracy, such as the concern with individual freedom. He rejects consensus as a viable democratic theory for modern African politics. In this article, I respond to Matolino's objection. My responses demonstrate a persuasion for a consensus-imbued majoritarian model of governance. While noting that consensus is conceptually reconcilable with party politics, I argue that a consensual orientation allows for expanded freedom of association that helps check abuse of party-political loyalty. |
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| AbstractList | Afro-communitarian thinkers have often pointed to consensual democracy as a valuable feature of traditional African societies. African philosophers, including Kwasi Wiredu and Bernard Matolino, have drawn attention to this pattern of political arrangement to consider what the political practice means for modern African politics. While Wiredu praissed consensual democracy and sought to explore how it could be relevant for contemporary African democratic development, Matolino finds it undesirable. In the book Consensus as Democracy in Africa, Matolino identifies several significant concerns with the theoretical and practical feasibility of consensual democracy, such as the concern with individual freedom. He rejects consensus as a viable democratic theory for modern African politics. In this article, I respond to Matolino's objection. My responses demonstrate a persuasion for a consensus-imbued majoritarian model of governance. While noting that consensus is conceptually reconcilable with party politics, I argue that a consensual orientation allows for expanded freedom of association that helps check abuse of party-political loyalty. |
| Author | Adeate, Tosin |
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| ContentType | Journal Article |
| Copyright | 2025. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. |
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| References | Wiredu, K. (bib15) 2001; 30 Wiredu, K. (bib14) 1997 Afigbo, A. E. (bib1) 1973; 4 Fayemi, A. K. (bib3) 2010; 7 Teffo, J. (bib12) 2004 Gyekye, K. (bib5) 1997 Wamala, E. (bib13) 2004 Matolino, B. (bib8) 2018b; 7 Matolino, B. (bib6) 2014 Nwaubani, E. (bib10) 2006; 12 Matolino, B. (bib7) 2018a Ani, E. I. (bib2) 2021; 31 Matolino, B. (bib9) 2022; 2 Onwuejeogwu, M. A. (bib11) 1981 George-Franklin, U. (bib4) 2021; 7 |
| References_xml | – volume: 30 start-page: 227 issue: 3 year: 2001 ident: bib15 article-title: Democracy by Consensus: Some Conceptual Considerations – start-page: 303 year: 1997 ident: bib14 article-title: Democracy and Consensus in African Traditional Politics: A Plea for a Non-Party Polity – year: 2018a ident: bib7 – volume: 12 start-page: 1 year: 2006 ident: bib10 article-title: Igbo Political Systems – start-page: 435 year: 2004 ident: bib13 article-title: Government by Consensus: An Analysis of a Traditional Form of Democracy – volume: 2 start-page: 86 issue: 2 year: 2022 ident: bib9 article-title: An Outline of the Basis for a New Afro-Communitarian Political Theory of Democracy – volume: 7 start-page: 3 issue: 3 year: 2021 ident: bib4 article-title: Igbo Traditional Political Government in the Light of Jean Jacques Roseau's Political Philosophy: A Comparative Analysis – volume: 4 start-page: 12 issue: 2 year: 1973 ident: bib1 article-title: The Indigenous Political Systems of the Igbo – year: 2014 ident: bib6 – start-page: 443 year: 2004 ident: bib12 article-title: Democracy, Kingship, and Consensus: A South African Perspective – volume: 7 start-page: 211 issue: 1 year: 2010 ident: bib3 article-title: A Critique of Consensual Democracy and Human Rights in Kwasi Wiredu's Philosophy – year: 1981 ident: bib11 – year: 1997 ident: bib5 – volume: 7 start-page: 101 issue: 2 year: 2018b ident: bib8 article-title: The Politics of Limited Communitarianism – volume: 31 start-page: 109 year: 2021 ident: bib2 article-title: Consensus and Majoritarian Democracies: Problems with Under-informed Single Level Analyses |
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| StartPage | 89 |
| SubjectTerms | Democracy Feasibility Freedom of association Freedoms Governance Loyalty Persuasion Philosophers Politics |
| Subtitle | A Critical Response to Matolino's Consensus as Democracy in Africa |
| Title | Substantive Majoritarian Consensual Democracy |
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