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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The winds of change: political and constitutional evolution in francophone Africa, 1990-1991
Author:Reyntjens, FilipISNI
Year:1991
Periodical:Journal of African Law
Volume:35
Issue:1-2
Pages:44-55
Language:English
Geographic terms:French-speaking Africa
Subsaharan Africa
Subjects:political change
democracy
constitutional amendments
Abstract:Although the pace and intensity of the process differ considerably, virtually no country in francophone Africa has been untouched by the wave of political reform which has swept the continent in 1990. A combination of factors accounts for this spectacular evolution: events that took place in Eastern Europe in 1989, the end of the Cold War, 'Paristroïka' or the radical change of heart in France's policy towards its African partners, and a major reversal in World Bank/IMF policy to include political reform measures. To date four countries in French-speaking Africa - Chad, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Benin - have experienced a pluralist electoral process after their recent conversion to multiparty politics. The outcome has not been unequivocal. Constitutional reform during 1990 has led to a return to the classical canons of constitutionalism, inspired by the model of France. All in all, the viability and reality of democratic reform, facing as it does a number of considerable obstacles, remains to be seen. Notes, ref.
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