10 Chapter 2. The Young are the hope of the future, but which future? A case study with Zimbabwean township youth. Background: Zimbabwe in recent years has moved from one of the hopes for a strong democracy in Africa into a nearpariah state. Freedom House now rates Zimbabwe as one of the most undemocratic states in the world14, which is a very telling indictment for a nation that twenty years ago was seen as one of the great hopes in Africa. This indictment is reflected by the repudiation of elections held in 2000 and 2002; the withdrawal of financial support by the IMF and the World Bank; the withdrawal of development assistance by the EU, most of its member States, and the United States; and the imposition of personal sanctions on a significant number of Zimbabwe’s political leaders. It becomes difficult to assume that Zimbabwe is a state in transition to democracy any longer, and, rather than Zimbabwe moving away from autocratic rule, it seems that autocracy is being consolidated in Zimbabwe15. However, autocracy is very far from the desires of ordinary Zimbabweans, as shall be seen later. Zimbabweans seem to have strong views about what is democracy, and what form democracy should take in Zimbabwe. Indeed, it is exactly these views that lie at the heart of the current political crisis in Zimbabwe. Indeed, the views of Zimbabweans through their various political parties are very well known internationally, but less well-known are the views of ordinary Zimbabweans outside of their voting in elections. The views of Zimbabweans in elections are however somewhat difficult to interpret in the light of severe conflicts over the validity of these elections. There were 39 electoral challenges following the 2000 Parliamentary Elections, the 2002 Presidential Election was subsequently challenged in court, and many of the results of by-elections have also been challenged. So if elections cannot be trusted as a test of Zimbabweans’ political views, how can we know what Zimbabweans actually think about their democracy and its governance? Research and opinion polls can provide an alternative understanding, as can the views of civil society organizations. There is an enormous wealth of research and analysis on Zimbabwe, but rather less systematic description of the views of ordinary citizens: opinion polls have become difficult to do with the possibilities of exposure and retribution so prevalent in peoples’ minds16. Thus, other methods must be used. This paper reports on the use of two methods in the understanding of the views of Zimbabwean youths. A small survey using a polling instrument was carried out, and the results were then used as the basis for workshop discussions. Zimbabweans’ views of their “democracy” 14 Freedom House rated Zimbabwe as “not free” in its report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2003. Here see Freedom House (2003), A Special Report to the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, 2003, WASHINGTON: FREEDOM HOUSE. More recently, Freedom House, in consideration of the world’s most repressive regimes, rated Zimbabwe as one of the worst, bracketing Zimbabwe with countries such as Afghanistan, Morocco, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. Here see Freedom House (2004), Countries at the Cross Roads, WASHINGTON: FREEDOM HOUSE. 15 See Raftopoulos, B, Current Politics in Zimbabwe: Confronting the Crisis, in Harold-Barry, D (ed), “Zimbabwe: the Past is the Futurel, 2004, HARARE: WEAVER PRESS. 16 See AMANI (2002), Heroism in the Dock: Does testifying help victims of organised violence and torture? A pilot study from Zimbabwe, HARARE: AMANI TRUST. This small study of the witnesses testifying in the election petitions following the 2000 General Election showed very clearly the risks in being public: very many had been threatened, a fair number had actually been attacked, and many did not feel it was safe to return to their local community. IDASA: Zimbabwe at the Cross-Roads: Views of Zimbabwean citizens on democracy and transitional justice.