Today many African states are formal democracies (in the sense of having governments that are the result of formal elections) but they are not liberal democracies (in the sense of protecting civil liberties and permitting an unhindered alteration of power). They are rather what Fareed Zakaria has termed illiberal democracies. This study explores the impediments to the development of liberal democracy in one such case: Zambia. Following a review of Zambias pre-independence history and the failure of post-independence decentralization efforts, the study reviews Zambias recent government...