Somaliland: A New Democracy in the Horn of Africa?

Abstract

With a constitutionally-based and popularly elected government, the Republic of somaliland, which broke away from Somalia in 1991, has a democratic system matched by few others countries in Africa and the Middle East. However, Somaliland's independence has not been recognised internationally. Moreover developments in neighbouring countries suggest that people in Somaliland will face serious challenges in entrenching a democratic political system. This article takes as its point of departure Georg Sorensen's (1998:3) definition of democracy. His definition is employed, together with the history of elections in the region, to explore the challenges people in somaliland face in "establishing a democratic political system, in this sense the article aims to explore the challenges of the future, rather than analyze the processes of the past. These include, among others, the shift from a clan-based form of political representation and competition to one based on political parties as...