Anarchy Foretold: West Africa’s Democratic Backsliding

2022 S.T. Lee Lecture

In the 1990s and early 2000s, most West African nations embarked on transitions to democratic governance. In the ensuing decade, the sub-region enjoyed relative peace and material progress. Unfortunately, these gains in democratization are being eroded. The lecture contends that democratic reforms at the turn of the 21st century were key drivers of the subsequent sanguine political, social, and economic conditions in the ECOWAS group; that popular attitudes in today’s West African societies are largely anti-autocratic; and that therefore the unfolding retreat from democratic governance in nations across the sub-region portends ill for their overall stability and material prosperity in the 2020s and beyond. The lecture proposes measures to arrest the democratic recession in West African nations to prevent economic decline, social unrest, and political implosion.

The S.T. Lee Lectureship is named for Seng Tee Lee, a business executive and noted philanthropist. Dr. Lee is director of the Lee group of companies in Singapore and of the Lee Foundation.

Dr. Lee endowed the annual lectureship at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies in order to raise public understanding of the complex policy issues facing the global community today and to increase support for informed international cooperation. The S.T. Lee Distinguished Lecturer is chosen for his or her international reputation as a leader in international political, economic, social, and health issues and strategic policy-making concerns.

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S.T. Lee Lecture - Anarchy Foretold: West Africa’s Democratic Backsliding