US Model of Democratic Governance and China's Model of Authoritarian Capitalism : Africans' Perception of these Transnational Political Processes of Governance

Abstract: As the debate on greater socio-economic rights promulgated by China’s model of authoritarian capitalism or greater human rights and freedom championed by the US model of democratic governance continues to spread across developing countries, this thesis investigates how Africans perceive these two transnational political processes. This is an exploratory sequential mixed method research with data collected through an expert interview of 10 participants from 7 African countries and the quantitative data gotten from Afrobarometer Round 8 survey. This study permitted us to establish that the perception of Africans of these models of governance are shaped by the indicators of human rights and freedom and Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The results of the study suggest that Africans perceive positively the US model of democratic governance on the promotion of human rights and Africans also perceive positively the impact of Western democratic countries’ FDI on the non-elite actors in Africa because of their level of transparency and accountability. On the other hand, the study suggests that Africans view negatively China’s model on both human rights as well as FDI. This is because of China’s disregard for human rights and principles of good governance in her interaction with African countries. Chinese FDI turn to profit the political elite class the more because of their lack of transparency and accountability. China’s model helps to perpetuate human rights violation and authoritarianism in Africa.