Despite its shortcomings in other indicators of democracy, the African region has strengthened considerably in the category of participation: “Nine African countries are in the top 50 in the world in levels of Participation. Recent experiences in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria and Sierra Leone (among other countries) have shown that popular movements can play a vital role as a countervailing institution when other institutions have been unable to constrain governments” (International IDEA, 2023).