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date: 16 February 2025

Nationalism and Decolonization in Beninlocked

Nationalism and Decolonization in Beninlocked

  • Jennifer C. SeelyJennifer C. SeelyDepartment of Politics, Earlham College

Summary

Political authority in Benin has historically swung from the uneasy coexistence of multiple leaders representing ethno-regional groups to dominance by one leader in a quest for stability and unity. The country’s struggles to maintain democracy in the face of authoritarian pressures from the early 2010s exemplifies this trend. In precolonial times, disparate kingdoms and acephalous societies coexisted on the territory, with the Kingdom of Dahomey as the most centralized and well-documented political unit. The French effort to unify and stabilize the country under colonial rule from 1894 required military force but withstood the pressure for greater representation and indigenous control only to 1960. The political fault lines that emerged in the late-colonial period followed ethno-regional lines, with multiple powerful regional leaders vying for control at independence under a new, democratic constitution. The instability that resulted from multiple contenders for power made room for military intervention in the form of coups d’état from 1963 to 1972, after which time a military dictatorship was firmly installed under Mathieu Kérékou.

By the late 1980s, economic mismanagement by government and people’s yearning for freedom produced a dramatic democratic transition in Benin, kicking off a wave of similar transitions throughout sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1990s. A new democratic constitution institutionalized political participation and competition rather than dictatorial rule, and the country successfully navigated several rounds of elections and transfers of power. Ethnic fragmentation contributed to a proliferation of political parties, usually centered around one leader drawing support from a particular geographic area. From 2006, the presidency was held by candidates with business backgrounds, reflecting voters’ hopes for much needed economic development in one of the poorer countries in the world. President Patrice Talon (first elected 2016) has reimposed greater centralization and control, moving the country away from democratic rule and power sharing and closer to authoritarian rule.

Subjects

  • Political History
  • West Africa

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