Multi-level Approaches to Countering Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa: Implications for the Rule of Law

Abstract

This article assesses the impact of multi-level approaches to the problem of unconstitutional changes of government (UCGs) on the rule of law at the national and global level. Based on a single-case study of the 2016 Gambian UCG, this article concludes that multi-level governance tends to strengthen the rule of law at the national level, but only if certain conditions are met. These include an agreement about the rules of the road regulating how the different layers of governance interact – subsidiarity v. precedence for organizations from higher levels of governance – and the definition of a common purpose. Such unity of purpose is easier to attain if the (geo)political stakes of a crisis are relatively low, the prospects of success of a military intervention high, and if the perpetrators of the UCG have forfeited their legitimacy both locally and globally. This prevents them from exploiting institutional rivalries and shrinks their space for diplomatic manoeuvre and thus their ability to use forum shopping for their benefit. If these conditions are met, then multi-level responses to UCG will strengthen the rule of law at the domestic level, while at the same time potentially undermining the rule of law at the global level.

Handbook of Regional Cooperation and Integration

“…Despite being fruitfully applied to the EU, the MLG approach has yet to make its way into the study of comparative regionalism and unlock its full potential (Börzel, 2020). Only a few scholars have drawn on the MLG approach in their analyses of individual regional organisations (ROs), 1 such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (Bisong, 2019) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Wong and Irrera, 2020), or of regional and global governance writ large Reinold, 2019;Zürn, 2012).…”

Multi-level governance

“…Despite being fruitfully applied to the EU, the MLG approach has yet to make its way into the study of comparative regionalism and unlock its full potential (Börzel, 2020). Only a few scholars have drawn on the MLG approach in their analyses of individual regional organisations (ROs), 1 such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (Bisong, 2019) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Wong and Irrera, 2020), or of regional and global governance writ large (Hooghe, Lenz, and Marks, 2019;Reinold, 2019;Zürn, 2012).…”

A Decade of Popular Uprisings in Africa (2011–2021) Lessons Learned for Regional Bodies on Managing Transitions

“…The ECOWAS heads of state have taken decisive action, pursuant to the ECOWAS Protocol, to deal with an unconstitutional change of government. A clear example occurred in The Gambia in 2016, when the incumbent of 23 years, Yahya Jammeh, refused to concede defeat and relinquish the office of President after elections that were nationally and internationally considered to be free, fair and transparent (Reinhold 2019). Through amplified, unanimous pressure, ECOWAS was able to compel the increasingly psychotic Jammeh to leave The Gambia, paving the way for the ascension of a democratically elected president (Reinhold 2019;Ani 2021).…”

“…A clear example occurred in The Gambia in 2016, when the incumbent of 23 years, Yahya Jammeh, refused to concede defeat and relinquish the office of President after elections that were nationally and internationally considered to be free, fair and transparent (Reinhold 2019). Through amplified, unanimous pressure, ECOWAS was able to compel the increasingly psychotic Jammeh to leave The Gambia, paving the way for the ascension of a democratically elected president (Reinhold 2019;Ani 2021). The West African bloc equally resorted to the threat of force in inducing President Laurent Gbagbo's compliance during the 2010-2011 Ivorian crisis (Abebe and Fombad 2021).…”