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Controversial constitutional and institutional reforms voted in May 2019 in parliament opened the way for President Gnassingbé to stand for a fourth and fifth term because the law does not apply retroactively. In February 2020, the President won again the disputed presidential elections and thus consolidated his power, assisted by the loyal army and security services. The outbreak of the Corona epidemic in Togo in March and the subsequent economic recession may have contributed to limit popular protest against the Gnassingbé regime. The human rights record of the government has improved, but remains poor. Yet, the international community followed a 'laissez faire' approach in the interests of regional stability. The economy dropped into recession due to the worldwide economic negative effects of the corona-crisis. The democracy index of the Economic Intelligence Unit, London, still rated Togo as an 'authoritarian regime'.

Vor dem Hintergrund einer wachsenden Anzahl junger Menschen, die öffentlich gegen eine neoliberale Politik protestieren, werden in der vorliegenden Studie zwei Fragestellungen untersucht: (1) Ist die Globalisierungskritik ein politischer Konflikt, der im wesentlichen bei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen in Erscheinung tritt? Eröffnen also die jungen Globalisierungsgegner eine neue Konfliktlinie bei den großen wirtschaftlichen, politischen und gesellschaftlichen Transformationen des 21. Jahrhunderts? (2) Welches Verhältnis zur Politik im Allgemeinen haben die protestierenden jungen Menschen, wie schätzen sie ihren eigenen politischen Einfluss ein und welche Ansprüche stellen sie an die politische Bildung? Die Studie untersucht diese Fragen anhand von Daten aus einer standardisierten Befragung von über 2000 Jugendlichen aus verschiedenen Ländern, die im Jahr 2003 in den Städten Genf, Lausanne und Annemasse gegen den G8-Gipfel von Evian-les-Bains protestierten. Außerdem wurden gesonderte Interviews mit militanten schweizerischen Jugendlichen geführt. (ICI).

The Gnassingbé clan has ruled the country since 1967. The demand for political alternance, constituted the major contentious issue between the government and the challengers of the Gnassingbé regime throughout the survey period. The first local elections since more than 30 years took finally place on 30 June 2019 and resulted in the victory of the ruling party. Shortly afterwards, in February 2020, the President won also the disputed presidential elections and thus consolidated his power, assisted by the loyal army and security services. The outbreak of the Corona epidemic in Togo in April 2020 and the subsequent economic recession may have contributed to limit popular protest against the Gnassingbé regime. The human rights record of the government has improved but remains poor. Despite undeniable improvements to the framework and appearance of the regime's key institutions during the review period, democracy remains far from complete. However, the international community, notably Togo's African peers, the AU and ECOWAS, followed a 'laissez-faire' approach in the interests of regional stability and their national interests in dealing with Togo. Economic growth remained stable at about 5% per annum (before Corona). Public investment in infrastructure and increases in agricultural productivity, notably of export crops, had been the key drivers of economic growth. However, growth remains vulnerable to external shocks and the climate and has not been inclusive. Moreover, it was overshadowed by increasing inter-personal and regional inequality as well as an increase in extreme poverty. Money-laundering, illegal money transfers and trafficking grew alarmingly. Nevertheless, the business climate improved considerably.