Understanding citizens attitudes to democracy in Uganda

After nearly 30 years of autocratic rule and civil war, Uganda returned to elective national government in 1996. But while elections resumed, political parties were allowed to exist but legally prevented from directly fielding candidates for those elections. Where Uganda’s process of democratization goes from here depends not only on the wishes of the country’s leaders and ruling party, but also to some degree on how ordinary Ugandans view these changes and whether or not they are satisfied with the present level of democracy, as well as whether they are willing to demand the protection and expansion of democracy. This paper uses survey data in an attempt to shed some light on these issues. The goal is to provide a more nuanced understanding of trends in how Ugandans view their country’s process of political liberalization and democratization as well as the sources of these attitudes.

The paper provides the following findings:

• Just over half of Ugandans say the country is a democracy, just under half (48 percent) were “fairly” or “very satisfied” with the way democracy was working
  
• As of 2008, almost nine-in-ten say that they are “somewhat” or “completely free” “to join any political organization you want,” and three quarters say that people are similarly free to “say what you think.” Looking more closely, however, while most people feel that while they have the legal right to speak their mind, free speech in Uganda carries real risks
  
• While 86 percent of Ugandan citizens feel that people are free to “choose who to vote for without feeling pressured,” only 60 percent say “completely free.” Meanwhile, a significant proportion of the population worries about the consequences of their vote.

The paper provides the following recommendations:

• There is at least for now no need for governments or donors to attempt to do “hard things” such as transforming the economy, reducing poverty, or rapidly accelerating the delivery of services in order to save democracy
  
• Given that few donors would have the resources for a program substantial enough to achieve significant attitude change amongst the overall electorate, adult education programs need to be closely targeted to areas of greatest need
  
• While Ugandans clearly seem to understand the need to limit political power, civic education needs to promote the idea of the ordinary citizen as an agent with the duty to control government, rather than simply a subject or client.