Does Democracy Really Fuel Terrorism in Africa?

The researchers argue that democratic governance is the key factor of eradicating terrorism with the exception of transnational terrorism. They identify the menace of terrorism as a by-product of illiberal political and economic systems. The authors explain the determinants of terrorism in Africa by specifically measuring whether adopting democracy is a source of promotion or reduction of terrorism spreading across the African continent. The four indicators of terrorism (domestic, transnational, unclear and total) are compared by utilizing negative binomial regression to measure the effect of regime type on terrorist activities in the region. The tendency of domestic terrorism activities reduces from 1.138 to 0.287 with the maturity of democracy. The transnational terrorism indictor is inconsistent with democracy, as its threshold values stand at 1.674 and 1.899, which need mature democratic institutions to deal with the threat of transnational terrorism. Low GDP, human rights abuses etc. ignite unclear terrorism which can be optimized through press freedom by media. Factors like regime durability and GDP, along with population, surface area, and physical integrity rights institute outgrowths of total terrorism. The author concludes that democratic values, protection of fundamental human rights, and freedom should be strengthened to reduce terrorist activities.