The Formation of the State in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Institutional and Constitutional History of a Quest for the Submission of the State to the Rule of Law

Bibliographic Data

ID17822358
AuthorsMujinga Pathou Petipeti (corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume16
Issue02
Pages212-243
Publication date2026-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOpen Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2164-0505 • E-ISSN: 2164-0513
PublisherBentham Science Publishers (PUBLISHER • AE)
DOI10.4236/ojps.2026.162012
OpenAlexW7157178985
LanguageEN
References cited12

The formation of the State in the Democratic Republic of the Congo cannot be reduced to the colonial sequence or to the legal arrangements that emerged from the Berlin Conference of 1885. Rather, it must be understood within a much longer historical trajectory in which precolonial political structures, diplomatic relations, colonial transformations, and post-independence constitutional developments progressively shaped the Congolese State. This article examines the institutional and constitutional history of the Congo from the ancient political formations of the Congo Basin to the contemporary constitutional order established by the Constitution of 18 February 2006. By adopting a historical and constitutional approach, the study highlights the existence of organized political authorities and international diplomatic relations long before the colonial period, particularly through the Kingdom of Kongo and its interactions with European powers and the Holy See. It then analyzes the profound transformations introduced by colonial rule, the creation of the Congo Free State, the Belgian colonial administration, and the constitutional struggles that followed independence in 1960. Particular attention is devoted to the authoritarian experience of the Zairean regime under Mobutu and to the constitutional reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after 1997. The article argues that the Congolese constitutional trajectory reflects a continuous and unfinished quest to subject state power to the rule of law. While the Constitution of 2006 formally establishes the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a state governed by the rule of law, significant challenges remain in translating constitutional principles into effective institutional practice. The Congolese experience therefore illustrates the broader difficulties encountered by postcolonial states in consolidating democratic governance, institutional stability, and legal accountability within complex historical and geopolitical contexts

Authoritarianism · Colonialism · Constitution · Democracy · Political history · Politics · Rule of law · Global Politics and Economy · Political Conflict and Governance · Political Systems and Governance

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