Abstract
Non-acceptance of unconstitutional change of government (UCG) has become a central African norm since 1995. For decades, non-interference in state affairs characterized politics in the Organization of African Unity and became a cornerstone of inter-African relations. Against this historical backdrop, it is remarkable that the obligation to reject UCG was incorporated into the 2002 Constitutive Act of the OAU’s successor, the African Union (AU). This evolution and the centrality of the UCG norm are particularly remarkable against the background of common theoretical explanations of the development of international governance norms. They cannot sufficiently explain why a democratic norm came into being and was further deepened after 2002. This paper therefore seeks answers to the following question: Why did non-acceptance of UCG become a central norm of the AU from 1995 to 2012?
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