Abstract

This paper is rooted in democracy and transformative theories as it attempts to identify issues surrounding democracy theory in order to determine whether there is a need to review democracy theory as it stands today. The central purpose of democratic consolidation theory is to determine what will ensure stability and deepening of democracy in emerging democracies. It is widely accepted that democratic consolidation theory centre on conditions that are most conducive to political stability and as such attempt to identify the conditions conducive for political stability. These conditions relate to institutions and regime performance in general. There are however fundamental flaws with democratic consolidation theory. The paper will explore the need to re-evaluate theory in order to obtain a more inclusive interpretation of reality. In essence, theory seems to be missing the point in practice, especially in non-Western contexts.