Paper short abstract:

Assuming that the consolidation of democracy in Africa requires the spread of democratic values and the emergence of an active civil society, the paper employs the insights of Plato, Aristotle and Dewey to explore the role of education in promoting the spread of civic virtues in African polities.

Paper long abstract:

The lengthy list of failed or wobbling democratic experiments in Africa is certainly unparalleled

in any other region of the world. In spite of the third wave of democracy which had blown over the continent in the 90s, few African countries have made appreciable progress towards the consolidation of their fragile democracy. On the contrary, many African countries have slipped back into authoritarianism through military coup or constriction of the political space to one that is for all intent and purposes dominated by one party. This democratic reversals, it has been correctly argued, is primarily due to the decline in civil rights advocacy and the comatose nature of the civil society.

Taking the above observation as it points of departure, this paper argue that beyond constitutional provisions and efforts of civil rights organization, the consolidation of democracy in Africa requires the spread of democratic virtues and values across the different strata of African societies as well as the emergence of an active civil society which can provide critical watchdog functions to check authoritarian tendencies. Thus employing the insights of Plato, Aristotle and Dewey, the paper explores the role of education in promoting the spread of civic virtues in African polities.