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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Mali: the roots of democracy's 'success' |
Author: | Docking, Timothy W. |
Year: | 1997 |
Periodical: | L'Afrique politique |
Pages: | 191-212 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Mali |
Subjects: | Bambara democracy |
Abstract: | An analysis of Mali's democratic transition, which started when a coup d'État on 26 March 1991 brought an end to twenty-three years of military rule, reveals several possible explanations for its initial causes and its apparent continued successes. These include a series of international and domestic political and economic factors such as the end of the Cold War, a deepening of the socioeconomic crisis in the country in the late 1980s, the corrupt leadership of Moussa Traoré until 1991, as well as the capable leadership of the Konaré government following the coup. A closer look at Mali's transition, however, reveals another important factor that must be considered: a robust political culture among the Bambara population that is in many ways consistent with the norms ascribed to the Western notion of democratic governance on which Mali's constitution has been modelled. Nevertheless, if Mali fails to draw on these liberal roots and to tailor Western models of democratic governance to fit its own political culture, it risks repeating mistakes similar to those made at its independence when it broadly adopted exogenous economic and political models. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French (p. 12). |