For more detailed information, please follow this link: http://www.codesria.org/spip.php?article1219&utm_source=twitter...

All abstracts should be directed to the following address :democracy.gov(at)codesria.org, with cc to : democracy.gov(at)codesria.sn andagr(at)uneca.org

Deadline for the submission of abstracts is 15 February 2011. Authors of successful abstracts will be notified by the end of February 2011 and full papers are to be submitted by 20th April 2011. Submitted papers will be evaluated and approved before invitations are issued to successful paper authors for the conference.

International Conference on : Two Decades of Democracy and Governance in Africa : Lessons Learned, Challenges and Prospects organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Dakar and Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC

Conference Venue : Dakar, Senegal 
Date : 20th–22nd June 2011

Focus of the Conference :

After two decades in which the process of democratization begun in Africa, how far has Africa gone in terms of promoting democracy and democratic governance ? What are the differing interpretations and discourses on democracy and democratic governance in Africa ? How do the discourses on democracy in Africa differ from those of other regions of the global South ? What are the landmarks and achievements of democratization in Africa in the last two decades ? What are the lessons learned ? What are the main challenges, problems and prospects ? What is the state of knowledge on the democracy discourse in Africa and globally ? Which social forces constitute democratic champions and agency in Africa that engage, contest and may invariably reconfigure the political landscape in Africa ? How can democratic institutions and processes-elections, party systems, parliament and judiciary etc- be improved upon in Africa ? How feasible are the regional initiatives and frameworks in reinforcing the drive towards democratization and good governance in Africa ? How can Africa construct a better democratic future on the current fragile political foundations ? What are the prospects of democracy and good governance in Africa in the next two decades of the 21st Century ? These are some of the issues to be addressed by the international conference.