Political Transitions in Africa: The quest for inclusive governance and development, and the role of non-violent resistance movements in Sudan

拟议的研究将调查非洲从专制到民主的政治过渡轨迹，以及在追求民主治理和推进包容性发展过程中面临的挑战。民主过渡可能非常复杂，需要各行为体采取集体行动。许多非洲国家都经历了这样的政治转型，其中许多国家未能实现民主治理（Omotola 2018）。非暴力抵抗运动可以成为推动包容性民主治理的重要行为体，因为它们面向基层，有能力倡导各自社区的要求。有人认为，公民活动家运动较强的国家更有可能民主化，民主质量也更高（福图纳2011; Frye 2011）。

The proposed research will investigate the trajectory of political transitions from autocracy to democracy in Africa, and the challenges faced in the course of pursuing democratic governance and advancing inclusive development. Democratic transitions can be very complicated and require collective actions from various actors. Many African countries have gone through such political transitions, where many of them failed in achieving democratic governance (Omotola 2018). Non-violent resistance movements can be instrumental actors in pushing for inclusive democratic governance, given that they are grassroots' oriented and well-positioned to advocate for their respective communities' demands. It is argued that countries with stronger civic activist movements are much more likely to democratise and to have a higher level of democratic quality (Fortuna 2011; Frye 2011).