Benin's stealthy democracide: How Africa's model democracy kills itself bit by bit

Dirk Kohnert and Hans-Joachim Preuss

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Abstract: A 'democratic recession' is to be observed, which is not restricted to Sub-Sahara Africa but spreads worldwide since the beginning of the 21st century. Instead of concentrating on the outward appearance of a democratic form of government, greater attention should be paid to good governance and the stealthy erosion of democratic institutions, even in formerly shining examples and African 'model democracies' like Benin and Senegal. It went along with the rise of populist new nationalism and lack of regard of the concerned for the need to defend democracy actively. The lingering process of the decline of democratic institutions is driven by increasingly poor governance and disregard for the rule of law and transparency, which has been especially pronounced in African countries since the early 2000s. On the other hand, recent examples of African social movements that successfully campaigned for a democratic renaissance in Africa and elsewhere are promising indicators of progressive social forces that counteract global trends of the resurgence of right-wing nationalism and autocratic rule.

Keywords: Benin; Democratization; Senegal; Togo; democratic recession; social movements; governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F35 K15 K16 N47 N97 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-cdm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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