Decentralisation and Elections in Benin

Abstract

IntroductionDecentralisation is a type of governance reform that has been undertaken all over the world. African countries are also following this trend. The decentralisation process started in the 1990s as aid conditionality, that is, donor countries required it several years after the commencement of the democratisation process in African countries. Decentralisation is not only an administrative governance reform; it also brought political change and turbulence in African countries. The political impact of decentralisation in Africa has extended from the local level to the national and eventually to its international relations.Many African countries ended the one-party system or the military regimes, and adopted a multi-party system in the 1990s. Elections were carried out under the new democratic system. Some African countries had their very first experience of a legal and peaceful regime turnover through elections. We cannot undervalue the African actors' efforts to develop democratisation even if a sceptical evaluation of the democratisation process in Africa is dominant among political scientists.In African political studies, election were never considered a focal issue especially during the period of military and one-party regimes. However, some African countries continued their democratic process despite difficult conditions. As such, election became a crucial issue. If democratisation advances, decentralisation should have a more direct and greater impact on the political situation in Africa.This article tries to understand the political impact of decentralisation in Africa through case studies on Benin. Since the 1990s, donor countries as well as the Benin Government have considered Benin a model of democratisation in Africa. Hence, it would be meaningful to analyse Benin's case and relate it to the decentralisation process in Africa. Here we study the presidential, the legislative and the local elections held in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively, focussing on the first impact of decentralisation on the elections in Benin.Political Influence of Decentralisation in African CountriesBy the beginning of the 1990s, African countries were required to start a political reform process-democratisation by the international community, particularly the donor countries. Several years after, the international community required the African countries to decentralise for the purpose of administration reform. According to the donors, the over-centralisation of executive power and financial resources led to inefficient governance and corruption. These long time failed experiences of development assistance were examined by the donor countries and international organisations which resolved for the need to empower the local government through devolution so as to enable them to achieve social and economic development in the local communities. Decentralisation was therefore recognised as a panacea for governance reform. Eventually however, decentralisation began to expose its dysfunction in Africa (Nack Mback, 2003, 8, 40-41).There are numerous studies on decentralisation in Africa; researchers have analysed decentralisation within the framework of international co-operation and administration studies. They have focused on administrative institutions, but not on political and economic dynamism. Saito mentioned that decentralisation is a process to redefine the roles and responsibilities of the central and the local governments. In addition, decentralisation is essentially a political process (Saito, 2008, 284).As mentioned above, decentralisation is a major political challenge; it increased resources and changed the power balance in local politics. Election monitoring teams were sent by the international community to watch over the local elections in African countries, but not many researchers are interested in the impact of decentralisation on the elections in Africa. In fact, neither did many African countries initiate repeated peaceful elections after the start of decentralisation reforms. …