| Abstract: | Following the 1990 National Conference in Benin, the process of democratic institutionalization and legitimation has been characterized by institutional testing and innovation. This article examines some of the innovations that are beginning to address the fundamental historical conundrum that has led to the recurring paralysis of State power in the context of persistent economic crisis. The innovations include the installation in 1993 of a Constitutional Court, which has asserted its supremacy over the regulation of institutional and elite conflict. Furthermore, ongoing reforms in the system of political representation and in local government and social policy implementation are reconfiguring vertical political relationships. As more and more social policy implementation is left to the local level, either by a de facto lack of central financial resources or by explicit policy, struggles for State resources are effectively decentralized. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French (p. 5). |
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