Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative PerspectiveBetween 1989 and 1994, almost all of the countries in Sub Saharan Africa underwent significant political reform, including in many cases the first competitive elections in a generation. How can this wave of political liberalization be explained? Why did some countries complete a democratic transition, while others could not sustain more than limited political reform and others still suffered authoritarian reversals? What are the long term prospects