It's not considered nice to mention it except sarcastically, as the author uses it here, but empirical evidence tends to confirm the truth of this statement.
The africans are fully capale of managing their affairs, just not successfully or effectively.
Good point.
Others have commented that Islamic countries are similarly handicapped. Islam innately hinders the progress of democracy or it doesn't.
This distinction is probably going to make the difference between Bush going down as one of the greatest Presidents of all time, or just another Jimmy Carter.
It also demonstrates (in a way) how great the Founding Fathers were, and how fortunate we are to live here in the USA!