Democratic Transition and Democratization in Francophone Africa

Abstract

Some dominant interpretations of African politics affirm the emasculation of civil society by the authoritarian one-party state and the military dictatorships rampant on the continent. They affirm, equally, the proclivity of members of this society to seek to incorporate into or to disengage from the state as their favourite strategies for survival. The upsurge in mass protests from this same civil society in favour of political liberalization - multipartyism - in sub-Saharan Africa necessitates a re-examination of state-civil society relations. An analysis of the democratization processes in some sub-Saharan Francophone states reveals the crucial role played by civil society whether or not this transition has been achieved through the instrumentality of the national conference. While the democratic transition within this group of countries faced undisguised imponderables and, in some cases, manipulative resistance from the power incumbents, the overall evidence suggests that the foundation for a further democratization has been laid in the states which have achieved either full of partial transition. Given the economic straits in which these states find themselves, the installation of democracy will be an arduous process but democracy itself appears as the minimum condition which should complement the ongoing economic structural adjustment programmes in rebuilding their capacities and in injecting efficiency and accountability into the management of the state.