Political Parties in Senegal

Abstract

When the project on party-voter linkage in Ghana and Senegal was launched in 2005, Senegal was regarded – and rightfully so – as one of the most stable and democratic countries in Africa. The turbulences that surrounded the 2007 presidential elections have partly marred this image, but we must not forget that Senegal has been one of the few African states with a longstanding tradition of multiparty politics. In 1976, a restricted number of parties were recognised, and in 1980 an unrestricted multiparty system was introduced. However, political power in Senegal has been intertwined with the power of religious Islamic authorities, a factor that helped the PS (Parti Socialiste) to sustain its dominance for a long time. The turnover in the year 2000 was primarily an expression of leadership fatigue and the need for political change. At the same time, it reflected a more general social transformation of the relationship between religion and state. In the era of President Abdoulaye Wade, religious authorities are less directly involved in politics even though they still exert an important influence.KeywordsPolitical PartyPresidential ElectionParty SystemOpposition PartiReligious AuthorityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.