Evaluate two African states’ return to multi-party democracy in the 1980s and 1990s.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the experience of two African states’ return to multi-party democracy in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Candidates may offer equal coverage of both countries or they may emphasize the experience in one country, but both countries must be dealt with in the response. A comparative approach may or may not be used. Candidates may make reference to reasons for the return to multi-party democracy which may include internal dissent, economics or external influences. However, they may choose to focus solely on the experience of the two countries in returning to multi-party democracy or they may combine reasons for the return to democracy with the experience of the return. Experience of the return to democracy may include references to success and failure in a number of areas such as social and economic policies, political developments and the emergence of new leaders and parties.

The question required that candidates make an appraisal of the experience of two African states’ return to multi-party democracy. This question posed a number of problems as candidates did not seem to have enough knowledge of the topic or were unable to provide effective evaluation and produced narrative accounts without analysis.