2010 was a year of intensifying civil protests, pointing to the high level of economic and other grievances felt by many African populations. Yet, despite an increase in public protests, government responses in the form of violence and restrictive political measures (bans of press, demonstrations etc.) continued their downward trend from 2009 and were much less aggressive than in 2008. However, Freedom House continues to classify 20 African countries as “not free”.

In 2010, 13 countries held largely peaceful elections. The presidential election in Guinea that put an end to the institutional crisis generated by the coup d’état in 2008 and the peaceful constitutional referendum in Kenya were significant milestones after the post-election violence in 2008. The crisis and widespread violence in Côte d’Ivoire after a contested presidential election in November marked the low point.

The first quarter of 2011 has been among the most turbulent in Africa’s history. Peaceful popular uprisings toppled long-standing authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. Neighbouring Libya descended into a civil war in which the international community intervened with military force. The future development in Libya and the repercussions on its neighbours are difficult to predict.

In 2011, the continent will experience a record number of 28 national-level elections in 20 countries. An outstanding electoral event has been Southern Sudan’s peaceful January referendum in favour of separation from Northern Sudan. This will come into force in July 2011.

This chapter takes the events of early 2011 as a lens for describing the political landscape of Africa in 2010. The analysis is based on a 15-year dataset covering civil tension (in the form of strikes, demonstrations and victims of violence by non-government actors) and government responses (in the form of violence, arrests, bans, curfews and states of emergencies as measures of suppression, as well as lifting of bans, releases of political prisoners and others as measures of a softening stance) in 25 African countries1 (see the methodology section of the statistical annex for further details). The analysis is also based on measures of freedom and democracy from Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders.