Political Reform in Francophone Africa

Following a few fleeting years of democratic rule after independence, dictatorship came to be viewed as much a part of the African social landscape as its grinding poverty. The end of the Cold War and the sharpening of the economic crisis at the end of the 1980s, however, have breathed new life into campaigns for democracy in Africa. This volume explores the origins and evolution of political reform movements in several states of Francophone Africa.

The authors first make the case for the distinctiveness of Francophone Africa, based on the influences of colonial history, language, and France's contemporary role in Africa, then survey the challenges of reform, including the problems of transition from authoritarianism and consolidation of democratic regimes.