Suchergebnisse

A review essay on books on (1) Staffan I. Lindberg, Democracy and Elections in Africa (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006) & (2) Denis Kadima [Ed], The Politics of Coalition Building in Africa Auckland Park and Houghton, South Africa: EISA and Konrad-Adenaur-Stiftung, 2006).

Since independence Cameroon has been a hegemonic state, evidenced by the 1966 introduction of a single party, the Cameroon National Union (CNU), which was purportedly created to foster national integration. This focus on national integration led to a de-emphasis of all other issues such as fundamental human rights. And because a select elite assigned itself the task of imagining the form the nation would take, this process was naturally accompanied by a contraction of the political space. Because the national integration project had paid minimal dividends after more than two decades, Cameroonians refused to legitimize it. They had realized that it simply served as a ruse for the ruling class to convert the state into a patrimonial one. Hence, people sought to regain their voices and participation through the democratic process. Reluctantly, the state capitulated to demands for political pluralism, passing the so-called Liberal Laws of 1990. However, by allowing multiparty politics, the government ruptured the facade of cohesion of the ruling class, which resulted in elites becoming increasingly preoccupied with maintaining their power and losing interest in the national integration project.

Während die halbentwickelten Staaten Kamerun und Gabun von der Zentralafrikanischen Zoll- und Wirtschaftsunion (UDEAC) enorm profitiert haben, wurde die Unterentwicklung der armen Mitgliedsländer Tschad, Zentralafrikanische Republik, Äquatorial-Guinea und zum Teil auch Kongo nur noch zementiert. (DÜI-Spe)