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Party Politics and Different Paths to Democratic Transitions: A Comparison of Benin and Senegal

Lucy Creevey, Paul Ngomo, and Richard VengroffView all authors and affiliations

Volume 11, Issue 4

https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068805053213

Abstract
References

Abstract

Benin and Senegal represent two successful cases of democratic transition in Africa. They also represent two different paths to that end. This article explores the role of political parties in facilitating these different and successful paths to democratic transitions. In Benin, political parties and political leaders relied on the prevailing patterns of ethno-regional cleavages to structure their strategic interactions, mobilize electoral support and organize competition in legislative and presidential elections. In Senegal, an incremental pattern of institutional reform helped the ruling party retain power while enabling fragmented opposition groups to participate in competitive elections. In the long run, this helped opposition groups develop an effective electoral coalition to defeat the ruling party in presidential and legislative elections and bring about a turnover in government.

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1.

1 For the 1995 legislative elections, the number of seats was increased from 64 to 83 allocated in 18 electoral constituencies which were created by the division of the 6 administrative districts into 3 electoral constituencies each. Before the 1999 legislative elections, 6 more administrative districts were created and the resulting 12 administrative districts were then divided into 24 multi-member constituencies for allocating the 83 seats in the 1999 and 2003 elections.

2.

2 Since the democratic transition in 1991, Benin has received an average Freedom House score of 2.5 and, therefore, a rating as ‘partially free’.

3.

3 This influence is reminiscent of similar influence recorded in the competitive elections before and after independence (Staniland, 1973a, b).

4.

4 For systematic data on the number and size of ethnic groups, their constituent morphology featuring inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic cleavages, and the spatial concentration of each group and subgroup, see Scarritt and Mozaffar (1999).

5.

5 For data on these patterns, see Table 2 in Scarritt and Mozaffar (1999).

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6 To further legitimize this system, after the elections, a fourth party, the conservative MRS, was allowed to register in 1979.

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7 Oussoye in the Casamance was won by the PDS.

8.

8 Quinones and Vengroff (2002) show that strategic voting in Senegal has declined over time as recognition of the negative impact of doing so on one’s true preferences became obvious.

References

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