This book examines the claims that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are catalysts of democratic change in Africa. It takes optimist, pragmatist-realist and pessimist stances on various political actors and institutions, from government units and political parties to civil society organizations and minority groups.

List of Figures List of Tables Preface Notes on the Contributors Introduction: New Media and Democracy in Africa - A Critical Interjection; F.Banda , W.Tettey  & O.F.Mudhai Implications for Africa of E-Gov Challenges for Giants South Africa and Nigeria; O.F.Mudhai 'Misclick' on Democracy: New Media Use by Key Political Parties in Kenya's Disputed December 2007 Presidential Election; G.Nyabuga  & O.F.Mudhai Repression, Propaganda and Digital Resistance: New Media and Democracy in Zimbabwe; L.Moyo Democractic Process, Civic Consciousness and the Internet in Francophone Africa; M.Frere  & A.Kiyindou Use of the Internet by NGOs to Promote Government Accountability: The Case of Egypt; K.Ayyad ICTization Beyond Urban Male Elites: Issues of Gender Equality and Empowerment; K.J.Wakunuma-Zojer  & P.K.Litho ICTs, Youths and the Politics of Participation in Rural Uganda; C.A.Dralega Transnationalism, the African Diaspora and the Deterritorialized Politics of the Internet; W.Tettey Globalization from Below? ICTs and Democratic Development in the Project 'Indymedia Africa'; F.Frenzel  & S.Sullivan New Public Spheres: The Digital Age and Big Brother; K.G.Tomaselli  & R.E.Teer-Tomaselli Popular Music, New Media and the Digital Public Sphere in Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria; G.Ogola , A.Schumann  & M.Olatunji News Media Use of ICTs amidst War, Violence and Political Turmoil in the Central African Great Lakes; M.Frere Conflict Coverage in a Digital Age: Challenges for African Media; R.Ottosen  & O.F.Mudhai