After a failed democratic experiment in 1993-96 and two military coups, Niger successfully held free and fair elections in 1999. The next couple of years will be crucial to the long-term survival of democracy.
About the Authors
John Uniack Davis
John Uniack Davis is development assistance coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Niamey, Niger. Previously, he was a democratic governance consultant in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
Aboubacar B. Kossomi is political assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Niger. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and should not be taken as an expression of U.S. government policy.
In Senegal, voters, civil society, and the media remain active and engaged, but as the reelection of Macky Sall showed, the president’s ability to limit competition and centralize power remains…
The country's long-ruling party has never faced a serious electoral challenge—due not only to opposition weakness but also to a deliberate strategy of suppression.
