Trends of Civic and Ethical Education for Democratic Consolidation: Implicating the Possibility of Mainstreaming African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance (ACDEG)

Abstract

This article discusses the trends of Civic Education as a way to help
consolidating post-cold war emerging democracies. Capitalizing on the commonality of
the subject matter which premised the shared heritage of democratic ideals, so far, the
curricula is helped by the triumph of liberal democracy. Hence, the trend and the subject
area created ‘tolerant citizen for diversity’ in Ethiopia and unintentionally, students are
found, albeit sometimes, to be ‘regional conscious’, ‘ethnic conscious’, and ‘selfassertive’.
Arguably enough, this was proved in the recent ‘popular protests’.
Irrespective of the local commitments to embrace democracy as per the constitution, this
article deduced, after employing qualitative desk review of regional and international
instruments, African nations progressively mainstreamed democratic ideals such as
African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance (ACDEG) and African
Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), and in the manner of
mainstreaming, also Pan-African sentiment to uphold democratic ideal with wide
coverage of Africa. Also, the change in Civic and Ethical Education subject matter has to
overcome proactively undesirable unintended function.