Tracing the Link Between Digital Globalization and the Demand for Democracy: The Case of Social Media Use in Mali and Sudan

Abstract

The need to establish stable democratic rule in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa has recently been accentuated in the context of overcoming the ailments eroding African societies, such as ethnic violence, gender inequality, neopatrimonialism, ineffective governance and mass levels of poverty. However, despite the continuous calls for democratization on behalf of the international community, the majority of the countries in the region is still characterized as widely undemocratic. This state of affairs, in turn, necessitates a deeper scrutiny of the patterns of democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular emphasis on the study of the endogenous and exogenous factors with a potential for producing a positive impact on the demand for democracy. Following the events of the Arab spring, digital globalization in the form of Internet and social media use may be hypothesized to represent one of such factors. This study rests on the hypothesis whereby there is a correlation between social media and Internet use, on the one hand, and the demand for democracy, on the other. Using the latest Afrobarometer merged dataset, a multivariate logistic regression was carried out for Mali and Sudan to establish a correlation, or a lack thereof, between the intensification of digital globalization and the increase in the demand for democracy in these countries. Based on the results obtained, conclusions were drawn regarding the role of digital globalization in the democratization process Mali and Sudan.