Democracy in Two West African Countries

Research Topic

Democracy in two West African countries

Research Questions

Can religion have any role in political instability in one country and not the order?

Can ethnicity play a role in one and not the other?

Introduction

The West Africa being passed through coups and civil wars, it was inevitable that recent developments cause high anxiety. However, these 10 years and the following elections and peaceful change of government became increasingly the norm. Some wars of long duration, such as Liberia and Sierra Leone have ended, and democratic elections helped develop more competent governments. The fact that Africa as a whole is becoming more democratic, stable and prosperous through frequent elections was even praised by the magazine in London's vision moderately "Afro-pessimism" The Economist. One of his articles published in July 2010 and was noted: "There are just ten years; countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia were synonymous with anarchy and bloodshed. At present, citizens vote with enthusiasm. It will be difficult, even dictators, depriving them of the right, because the experience of elections, even if they are flawed, seems to favor the establishment of democracy (Baldauf, 2012).

Following the coups in Mauritania and Guinea and attempted coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau, the African Union (AU) has stated, in February 2009, a zero tolerance policy for all calls State. She condemned the "resurgence of the scourge of coups in Africa" and said it would never recognize a government that came to power unconstitutionally - position later approved by the Security Council of the UN. The cry of alarm and condemnation rapid coup in Mali and Guinea-Bissau - first by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), then by AU and the UN Security Council - were predictable. However, by the turn of events reveals the complexity of the situation (Welch, 2000).

Guinea-Bissau was an exception to the general trend of democratization in West Africa: the country has experienced five military coups during the last decade, and no elected president has completed his term. Thus, when soldiers seized power on April 12 and imprisoned interim president Raimundo Pereira, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior and several other officials, causing the cessation of preparations for the second round of the presidential election, it was not particularly surprised.

Mali was by cons recognized as a model of democratic awakening in West Africa, so that the events that took place there have surprised many. It was not just a drift of the army of the external factors obviously played a decisive role in this turn of events. The situation was bound to return to Mali of tens of thousands of migrants, some thousands of heavily armed fighters and seasoned who fled Libya after the overthrow of Dictator Muammar Gaddafi. These fighters have brought reinforcements to the small number of Tuareg especially irredentist confined to northern Mali, leading to the taking by rebels of the three northern regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu and the proclamation of secession of southern Mali.

In January, the report of a mission agency of the ...