Democracy and Democratisation in Africa: Insights from a Bibliometric Analysis, 1948-2024

This study presents a bibliometric analysis of research on democracy and democratisation in Africa, using 7,892 Scopus-indexed documents from 1948 to 2024. Employing VOSviewer and Bibliometrix, we map the intellectual landscape in order to identify dominant trends, contributors, and thematic clusters. Findings reveal three publication phases aligned with continental political shifts: post-independence, the 1990s democratisation wave, and current democratic backsliding. Although South Africa, the USA, and the UK dominate the scholarly output on democracy and democratisation in Africa, a persistent North-South bias marginalises African-based researchers. While elections and governance are central, digital authoritarianism and military rule remain underexplored. The article advocates for a paradigm shift toward causal analysis and a more inclusive research agenda, addressing both geographical and epistemological gaps in the field to advance the future of African studies.