Political Transitions in Africa: The quest for inclusive governance and development, and the role of non-violent resistance movements in Sudan

The proposed research will investigate the trajectory of political transitions from autocracy to
democracy in Africa, and the challenges faced in the course of pursuing democratic governance and
advancing inclusive development. Democratic transitions can be very complicated and require
collective actions from various actors. Many African countries have gone through such political
transitions, where many of them failed in achieving democratic governance (Omotola 2018). Non-violent resistance movements can be instrumental actors in pushing for inclusive democratic
governance, given that they are grassroots' oriented and well-positioned to advocate for their
respective communities' demands. It is argued that countries with stronger civic activist movements
are much more likely to democratise and to have a higher level of democratic quality (Fortuna 2011;
Frye 2011).