Democratic Backsliding in West Africa

Introduction

The introduction provides a conceptual foundation for the chapter, linking West African democratic backsliding to broader global trends, and outlines the focus on understanding its causes, indicators, and regional impacts.

Democratic backsliding, sometimes called de-democratizing, meaning, the gradual decline of democratic norms and institutions, has become a significant concern globally, and West Africa is no exception. Once seen as a region showing promising strides toward democratization, recent trends across the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries reveal a disturbing pattern of democratic erosion. Scholars define democratic backsliding as a process where elected leaders incrementally undermine checks and balances, reduce electoral competitiveness, and curtail civil liberties to consolidate power (Bermeo, 2016; Levitsky & Ziblatt, 2018). In West Africa, this backsliding manifests through electoral manipulation, repression of opposition, restriction of civil liberties, and in some cases, military coups, which have reignited concerns about the region’s democratic future and its implications for regional stability (Freedom House, 2023)….