In an effort to encourage the study of democracy by African students and academics, the Centre for Research on Democracy (CREDO) at Stellenbosch University has launched an annual essay competition – the African Democracy Essay Prize – open to undergraduate students attending any South African university. Democracy in Africa is delighted to announce that it will partner with CREDO in this initiative – and that an Africa-wide prize is coming soon.
Participating students will not only have the opportunity to involve themselves in crucial debates and ideas at the heart of contemporary democracies, but will stand to win a cash prize of ZAR 5,000 as well as the privilege of having their essay featured on two influential Africa-focused publications – Democracy in Africa and The Continent. The 10 best essays will also be featured as part of a special CREDO publication, to be promoted online.
Open to students in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law, the nationwide essay prize will compliment an existing CREDO initiative – the African Data Hub for the Study of Democracy – which was created to promote the study of democracy by guiding students and young researchers as to how and why democracy should be studied. Offering an extensive collection of research sources, participating students will be obliged to make use of the Hub to help them in addressing key issues relevant to democracy on the African continent.
Benefiting from CREDO’s position as an interdisciplinary research centre with a global network of academic collaborators and data partners, submitted essays will be judged by a panel of senior research associates from around the world, chaired by the centre’s Director, Professor Ursula van Beek of Stellenbosch University.
For more information, interested students can access and download the competition’s brief, which provides detailed information on what is expected of participants and how to apply. Submissions open on the 15 of August 2022 and close on the 15 of January 2023.
