Elite-led democratisation in aid-dependent states

The case of Mauritania

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3979018
AutoresDesha M Girod (Georgetown University), Meir R Walters (Georgetown University)
Año2012
Volumen17
Número2
Páginas181-193
Fecha de publicación2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2011.608515
OpenAlexW2022540782
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas27

Why did Mauritania, an Arab League member, undergo a short-lived democratic transition after a successful coup in 2005? Mauritania's democratisation is puzzling because it occurred despite the presence of two conditions that are thought to hinder the prospects of democracy: poverty and strategic importance to the West. We trace the democratisation process undertaken by Mauritania's successful coup leaders in 2005 by focusing on the regime's foreign aid sources. We find that because coup leaders overthrew a Western ally, they feared aid flows would decline. The coup leaders therefore calculated that democratisation would shore up ties by signalling that the new regime was committed to maintaining a strong relationship with Western donors. Our findings have important implications for top-down democratisation in North Africa and the Middle East. Strategic importance appears to be a matter of degree, and states with modest importance to donors, such as Mauritania, may use democratisation as a means to posture themselves as valuable to powerful external actors. Democratic reforms, however, can have sticking power and trap future aid-dependent elites who attempt to strategically manipulate domestic reforms

Democracy · Democratization · Development economics · Economics · Elite · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · International Development and Aid · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance