List of African Union member states by political system

African Union (AU) member states, have various forms of government. The Constitutive Act of the African Union makes no provision for what type of government a member state may or must have, but states::Governments which shall come to power through unconstitutional means shall not be allowed to participate in the activities of the Union.This clause has only applied to Mauritania after its 2005 coup d'etat and Togo during its political crisis in April 2005.

[
Corruption Perceptions Index is published by Transparency International and provides data on perceived corruption. Every African state has a problem with corruption according to this survey.] There are several types of government systems in African politics:
*in an absolute monarchy, the head of state and head of government is a monarch with unlimited legal authority,
*in a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is a ceremonial figurehead who has few political competences,
*in a presidential system, the president is the head of state and head of government,
*in a semi-presidential system, the president and the prime minister share a number of competences,
*in a parliamentary system, the president is a ceremonial figurehead who has few political competences
*in a single-party state, there may be theoretical or legal protection for opposition parties, but there is no legitimate chance of a candidate outside the ruling party winning an election; often there are constitutional provisions protecting one-party dominance. While no AU state is constitutionally defined as such, the following are effectively one-party states:
**Egypt (National Democratic Party) (other parties exist but face various restrictions)
**Eritrea (People's Front for Democracy and Justice)
**Western Sahara's Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is composed entirely of Polisario Front members. Elections are held every three years with no opposition. In 2004, a splinter group, the Front Polisario Khat al-Shahid was announced.:Even in other states with elections, actual opposition may not exist. The following have been or are considered dominant-party systems::*Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Party of Labour):*Botswana (Botswana Democratic Party):*Burkina Faso (Congress for Democracy and Progress):*Cameroon (Cameroon People's Democratic Movement):*Chad (Patriotic Salvation Movement):*Republic of the Congo (Congolese Labour Party):*Djibouti (Progress People's Assembly):*Equatorial Guinea (Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea):*Ethiopia (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front):*Gabon (Gabonese Democratic Party):*The Gambia (Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction):*Guinea (Party of Unity and Progress):*Mozambique (Mozambican Liberation Front):*Namibia (South-West Africa People's Organisation):*Nigeria (People's Democratic Party):*Rwanda (Rwandese Patriotic Front):*Seychelles (Seychelles People's Progressive Front):*South Africa (African National Congress):*Sudan (National Congress Party):*Tanzania (Chama Cha Mapinduzi):*Togo (Rally of the Togolese People):*Tunisia (Democratic Constitutional Rally):*Zambia (Movement for Multiparty Democracy):*Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front)
*in a military dictatorship, high-ranking military officials run the state with authoritarian rule.

The politics of Africa have been blighted by severe problems with corruption and nepotism, coups d'état, and civil war. Corruption is a severe problem in much of the continent, with the vast majority of African states ranking below a five out of ten in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Five of the ten most corrupt governments are AU member states:

151. Angola (2.0)
152. Côte d'Ivoire (1.9)

152. Equatorial Guinea (1.9)

152. Nigeria (1.9)

158. Chad (1.7)

The following AU states are in ongoing wars, or have recently ceased hostilities:
*Côte d'Ivoire: Ivorian Civil War, since 2002
*Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ituri Conflict, since 1999, Second Congo War, 1998-2002
*Senegal: Casamance Conflict, since 1988
*Somalia: Somali Civil War, since 1991 certain regions are controlled by different warlords; autonomous internal states emerged (Jubaland, Puntland, Southwestern Somalia, Galmudug); Somaliland declared independence in 1991 but is not internationally recognized; since 2004, there is a new transitional parliamentary republican government.
*Sudan: Chadian-Sudanese conflict, 2005-2006, part of the larger Darfur conflict in Darfur, Second Sudanese Civil War, 1983-2005, in Southern Sudan
*Western Sahara: Independence Intifada, a non-violent resistance to on-going military occupation by Morocco, starting in 1976

Degree of self-governance

legend|#CCCCCC|non-AU state] Forty-five of the African Union's member states are unitary states, which means that most of the competences lie with the central government and only minor or local issues are within the authority of regional governments. However, four states are federations (Comoros, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Sudan) of states or regions with equal competences, Somalia's Transitional Federal Parliament is also a federation; Madagascar has devolved certain powers to its six provinces; and the United Republic of Tanzania is a federacy of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the latter of which elects its own president for internal affairs. Former federations and confederations in Africa from the twentieth century include:
*French West Africa (1904–1958)
*French Equatorial Africa (1910–1960)
*Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963)
*Mali Federation (1959–1960)
*Federal Republic of Cameroon (1961–1972)
*Uganda (1962–1967)
*#CCCCCC|non-AU state

A further distinction is the number of chambers in the national legislature; either with one or two houses. There is no clear trend towards either model as of 2006, and there's also no real common factor which determines whether a country's legislature is unicameral or bicameral, except for the fact that federations and countries with strong regional differences or regional identities are normally bicameral to reflect the regions' interests in national bills.

The function and form of the houses vary widely; some are directly elected, others indirectly or appointed, some have legal provisions for minority representation, based either or ethnicity, religious affiliation, or gender. In Cameroon and Malawi, there are legally two houses, but only one is functional. Due to the no-party politics of Libya, there is no legislature "per se", but a complex mixtures of local councils loyal to Muammar al-Gaddafi.

There are presently 34 unicameral legislatures and 19 bicameral legislatures in among AU member states.

Listed by form of government

Listed by type of legislature

References

ee also

*Enlargement of the African Union