Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Mapping African Democracy


President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola have both been leaders of their respective countries for 35 years. According to the Economist neither country qualifies as a full democracy. There are 27 countries in Africa ruled by an authoritarian regime or a nominal democracy. The Economist claims that Mauritius is the only African country to qualify as a full democracy.

In a series of interactive maps The Guardian has mapped various indicators of democracy and government in Africa. Using data from the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index 2014, the CIA Factbook, the World Intellectual Property Organisation and Intellectual Ideal the newspaper has mapped out the presidential term limits, voter turnouts and the longest serving leaders in African countries.

Power in Africa: Democracy Mapped uses CartoDB to present a series of interactive maps showing the state of democracy, the number of registered voters and the number of voters in African countries. It also includes maps of presidential terms limits and the lengths served by Africa's current leaders.

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