Professor Nic Cheeseman will present the findings from his latest book, Institutions and Democracy in Africa: How the rules of the game shape political developments (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Historically, African political institutions such as constitutions, legislatures and judiciaries have been seen as weak and vulnerable to manipulation, leading some to claim that the continent is 'institutionless'. However, recent developments including the consolidation of presidential term limits in a number of countries demonstrate that this depiction is no longer tenable. By drawing attention to how institutions can shape the practice of politics, the book demonstrates that electoral commissions, economic regulations and systems of land tenure are vital to our understanding of contemporary Africa. A series of cutting-edge contributions from leading scholars explain how the rules of the game shape political developments across the continent, from Kenya to Nigeria and from Benin to South Africa. In chapters that cover bureaucracies, constitutions, elections, political parties, the police and more, the authors argue that a new research agenda is required if we are to better understand the process of democratisation.

Nic Cheeseman is Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham and was formerly the Director of the African Studies Centre at Oxford University. He is the recipient of the GIGA award for the best article in Comparative Area Studies (2013) and the Frank Cass Award for the best article in Democratization (2015). He is also the author or editor of ten books, including Democracy in Africa (2015), Institutions and Democracy in Africa (2017), How to Rig an Election (2018), and Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective (2018). In addition, Professor Cheeseman is the founding editor of the Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics, a former editor of the journal African Affairs, and an advisor to, and writer for, Kofi Annan's African Progress Panel. His analysis has appeared in the Economist, Le Monde, Financial Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post, Wall St Journal, New York Times, BBC, Sky News, Radio France International, Guardian, New Yorker, Vice, the Mail & Guardian and the Daily Nation. In total, his columns and articles have been read over a million times. Many of his interviews and insights can be found on the website that he founded and co-edits, www.democracyinafrica.org