Nationalism in the African context may be defined as the struggles by Africans to free themselves from foreign rule, and to determine, after independence has been won, their own future. In the period before the Second World War, nationalism was aimed at resolving certain grievances of the elites.

The most widely-known definition of Representative Democracy is the one articulated by the former American President, Abraham Lincoln. He described democracy as government by the people, of the people, and for the people.