ABSTRACT
Sub-Saharan is Africa currently experiencing a wave of governance reforms,1 in the same way as it experienced a wave of independence from 1956 to 1968,2 and a wave of democratization after 1989.3 These three successive waves belong to the same logic. TheAfrican people’s fight for decolonization and democratization aimed at a final goal that cannot be achieved without a fight for good governance – the goal of being ruled by governments which they have elected and can hold accountable. Focusing on four case studies, this book not only argues that a wave of governance reform is currently taking place. More importantly, it examines the conditions under which a country will move forward on the governance reform agenda, stagnate, or step backwards.
