Political Pluralism and Authoritarian Continuity: The Contradictions of Democratic Consolidation in Cameroon

By Dibussi Tande (Originally published in NUCS Journal, 7, July 1995)

"Cameroon is still 'languishing... in some sort of half-way house' well short of meeting the basic criteria for true democratization and democratic consolidation."

In 1990, Africa, like eastern Europe the year before, was rocked by massive anti-government protests which were sparked off by the continent's worsening economic crisis, the absence of political pluralism, and the constant violation of human rights by single party or military dictatorships. In many countries, these protests culminated in the liberalization of the national political scene and the toleration of political opposition. This was the case in countries such as Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo. By August 1992 multiparty politics had been legalized in 41 of Sub-Saharan Africa's  47 countries, and elections were scheduled to be held in at least 16 countries.

In other cases, the protests led to  the ouster of an impressive number of African dictators either through the ballot box, as in Benin and Zambia, or through pro-democracy coups d'état as in Mali.

The bilingual Cameroon Republic was not spared by the political protests of the early 1990s. Unlike other countries where largely spontaneous street protests against worsening economic conditions had been transformed overnight into challenges to the political status quo, Cameroon's reform process was political from its inception, and it was begun in an organized manner, by an elitist group--the Cameroon Bar Association-- whose corporate interests were threatened by Cameroon government.
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Comments

[Abongwa]

I thought you were just a brilliant journalist but now I realize you're also a fine political scientist!

Great coincidence! I am currently working on a PhD thesis which focuses on democratic consolidation in Cameroon, and I am simply blown away by the fact that you wrote this piece - which has stood the test of time! - over a decade ago, at a time when the the concept of democratic consolidation was just taking root within academia. I could not have made a better analysis 11 years later!

It might be a great idea to update the article with most recent theories on democratic consolidation and submit it for publication in a peer review publication...

Anyway, to add to your brilliant article, here is an extract from a more recent article which backs up your assertion that Cameroon is nothing but a failed democracy. The source URL is found at the end of the article:

Abongwa Peter
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"For two important proponents of this view, Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, democracy is:

'…that form of government in which the right to make collective decisions is the product of fair, free, and competitive elections; in which the authority of democratically-elected leaders to make these decisions is not subject to the power of groups or institutions that are not democratically accountable; and in which elected authorities govern themselves democratically.'

"According to these authors, the first element of this definition requires the following basic institutions:

'…the legal liberty to formulate and propose alternative policies with concomitant rights of freedom of association, freedom of expression and other fundamental individual rights; free, non-violent competition among leaders with a periodic revalidation of their right to govern; the inclusion of all political duties in the democratic process, and means of participation for all members of the political community, regardless of their political preferences.'

"They believe that this first element is a necessary but not sufficient condition to conclude that a country has a democratic system of governance. Two additional conditions are necessary to arrive at this conclusion: (1) 'the absence of power in the hands of groups or institutions not democratically accountable' and (2) 'the requirement that elected authorities govern themselves democratically.'

"According to these authors, this definition is value-neutral and serves as a means of distinguishing between democracies and other political systems found in the real world."

http://islandia.law.yale.edu/sela/SELA%202004/OrozcoPaperEnglishSELA2004.pdf

[paolo laurent]

these passports are printed in france.
the currency is printed only in french and in france,
the government is ruled from france.
yet we southern cameroonians, never had been a part or parcel of france. never a part and parcel of cameroun.
never have been a peovince of cameroun.
wake up and fight for freedom/