Democracy as ceremony

Electoral ritual and the Politics of Legitimacy in East Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID24029034
AuthorsRevocatus Kabobe Bin’Omukama (0009-0000-9849-2389, Open University of Tanzania, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-08-17
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Asian and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9096 • E-ISSN: 1745-2538
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00219096261468575
OpenAlexW7203684030
LanguageEN
References cited22

Electoral democracy is widely regarded as central to democratic consolidation. However, in many East African states, elections increasingly assume a ceremonial character, functioning less as mechanisms of genuine competition and accountability and more as rituals that confer political legitimacy. This article examines the ritualization of electoral democracy, arguing that regular elections coexist with constrained political competition, limited institutional autonomy, and restricted prospects for alternation of power. Drawing on qualitative and interpretive analysis informed by post-structural theories of power, institutionalism, and hybrid regime scholarship, the study shows how elections are maintained through procedural compliance, symbolic participation, and managed outcomes. While emphasizing legality, order, and voter turnout, these processes often marginalize substantive democratic principles such as accountability and meaningful choice. The article concludes that although elections contribute to regime stability and political order, their ceremonial character reinforces existing power structures and calls for rethinking democratic consolidation beyond electoral formalism.

Accountability · Democratic consolidation · East Africa · electoral democracy · hybrid regimes · institutional autonomy · political legitimacy · power alternation · regime stability · symbolic participation · African Studies and Ethnography · Political Conflict and Governance · Political Theory and Democracy