Season 3, Episode 20: Why the state of African democracy matters, featuring Stuart Bolus episode artwork

EPISODE · Nov 29, 2025 · 46 MIN

Season 3, Episode 20: Why the state of African democracy matters, featuring Stuart Bolus

from On the Fringe · host Dave and Gavin

(00:00:00) Season 3, Episode 20: Why the state of African democracy matters, featuring Stuart Bolus (00:00:20) Podcast Intro (00:01:09) One of the West's biggest problems with West Africa (00:04:51) Why West Africa doesn't reflect the countries that colonized it, notably France (00:07:50) How this affects the countries' political systems (00:11:10) What democracy often looks like in West Africa (00:15:03) Benefits to a two-party system like in the U.S. and Ghana (00:18:53) Political systems and the need for institutions (00:24:14) Another key metric to the foundation of democracy (00:25:09) How elections and votes are tallied (00:30:22) A major roadblock for local African political movements (00:37:19) Riding off into the sunset (00:38:23) Gambia's interesting electoral system (00:40:29) Gavin's tale about the Nigerian Legislative Assembly (00:43:52) Democracy is affordable, but comes at a high price (00:46:16) Closing We've brought back Stuart Bolus from last season to talk about the state of African democracy. He was a guest on episode episode back in Season 2 about the man of the hour in Burkina Faso.You’ll learn what African Democracy looks like, why it is fragile, and how it differs from country to country, along with local insight, including how illiterates can vote and serve as National Assembly members in one country. Shoot us a message, leave us a comment, or send us your favorite emoji if you enjoyed the ep! We love hearing from our On the Fringe community.Thanks as always for checking us out On the Fringe!All the best,Dave and Gavin The colorful flag map of Africa in the corner of our podcast art is from Wikimedia and was made by WwJLaik and can be found here:

(00:00:00) Season 3, Episode 20: Why the state of African democracy matters, featuring Stuart Bolus (00:00:20) Podcast Intro (00:01:09) One of the West's biggest problems with West Africa (00:04:51) Why West Africa doesn't reflect the countries that colonized it, notably France (00:07:50) How this affects the countries' political systems (00:11:10) What democracy often looks like in West Africa (00:15:03) Benefits to a two-party system like in the U.S. and Ghana (00:18:53) Political systems and the need for institutions (00:24:14) Another key metric to the foundation of democracy (00:25:09) How elections and votes are tallied (00:30:22) A major roadblock for local African political movements (00:37:19) Riding off into the sunset (00:38:23) Gambia's interesting electoral system (00:40:29) Gavin's tale about the Nigerian Legislative Assembly (00:43:52) Democracy is affordable, but comes at a high price (00:46:16) Closing We've brought back Stuart Bolus from last season to talk about the state of African democracy. He was a guest on episode episode back in Season 2 about the man of the hour in Burkina Faso.You’ll learn what African Democracy looks like, why it is fragile, and how it differs from country to country, along with local insight, including how illiterates can vote and serve as National Assembly members in one country. Shoot us a message, leave us a comment, or send us your favorite emoji if you enjoyed the ep! We love hearing from our On the Fringe community.Thanks as always for checking us out On the Fringe!All the best,Dave and Gavin The colorful flag map of Africa in the corner of our podcast art is from Wikimedia and was made by WwJLaik and can be found here:

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Season 3, Episode 20: Why the state of African democracy matters, featuring Stuart Bolus

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(00:00:00) Season 3, Episode 20: Why the state of African democracy matters, featuring Stuart Bolus (00:00:20) Podcast Intro (00:01:09) One of the West's biggest problems with West Africa (00:04:51) Why West Africa doesn't reflect the countries that...

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