Hostname: page-component-66d9dcfd78-4fl2k Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-08-09T01:45:56.838Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The legislature as political control: change and continuity in Cameroon's National Assembly (1973–2019)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2021

Yonatan L. Morse
Yonatan L. Morse*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut, 365 Fairfield Way, U-1024, Storrs, CT 06269-1024, USA
*
Email: yonatan.morse@uconn.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A growing literature has begun to more closely examine African legislatures. However, most of this research has been attentive to emerging democratic settings, and particularly the experiences of a select number of English-speaking countries. By contrast, Cameroon is a Francophone majority country that reintroduced multiparty politics in the early 1990s but continues to exhibit significant authoritarian tendencies. This article provides a longitudinal analysis of Cameroon's National Assembly and builds on a unique biographical dataset of over 900 members of parliament between 1973 and 2019. The article describes changes in the structure and orientation of the legislature as well as the social profile of its members, in particular following the transition to multipartyism. While the legislature in Cameroon remains primarily a tool of political control, it is more dynamic, and the mechanisms used to manage elites within the context of complex multiethnic politics have evolved.

Keywords

Cameroonlegislatureauthoritarianismmultipartyismlongitudinal analysis

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 485 - 506
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

Funding for this study was provided by the University of Connecticut's Scholarship Facilitation Fund. My sincere thanks go to Veronique Ntamack, Fru Norbert Suh I and Yacoubah Moluh for their invaluable assistance on this project. Thanks also go to Anja Osei and the participants in the ‘Parliaments and Democracy in Africa’ workshop held in Dakar, Senegal, 17–20 March 2019.

References

REFERENCES

Albaugh, E. 2011. ‘An autocrat's toolkit: Adaptation and manipulation in ‘democratic’ Cameroon’, Democratization, 18, 2: 388–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arriola, L.R. 2012. Multi-ethnic Coalitions in Africa: business financing of opposition election campaigns. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atanga, L.L. 2010. Gender, Discourse, and Power in the Cameroonian Parliament. Bamenda: Langaa RPCIG.Google Scholar
Atangana, M. 2010. The End of French Rule in Cameroon. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Awasom, N.F. 2002. ‘Politics and constitution-making in Francophone Cameroon, 1959–1960’, Africa Today, 49, 4: 3–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barkan, J.D. 2009. Legislative Power in Emerging African Democracies. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Barkan, J.D., Mattes, R., Mozaffar, S. & Smiddy, K.. 2010. ‘The African legislatures project: first findings.’ Cape Town: Center for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town.Google Scholar
Bayart, J.F. 1978. ‘The birth of the Ahidjo regime’, in Joseph, R., ed. Gaullist Africa: Cameroon under Ahmadu Ahidjo. Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers, 45–65.Google Scholar
Bleck, J. & Van de Walle, N.. 2019. Electoral Politics in Africa Since 1990: continuity and change. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cantens, T. 2010. ‘Is it possible to reform a customs administration? The role of the customs elite on the reform process in Cameroon.’ Helsinki, UNU-WIDER Working Paper 2010/118.Google Scholar
Collord, M. 2018. ‘The legislature: institutional strengthening in dominant-party states’, in Cheeseman, N., ed. Institutions and Democracy in Africa: how the rules of the game shape political developments. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 281–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeLancey, M. 1987. ‘The constructon of the Cameroon political system: the Ahidjo years, 1958–1982’, Journal of Contemporary African Studies 6, 1–2: 3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeLancey, M. 1989. Cameroon: dependence and independence. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Gandhi, J. 2008. Political Institutions under Dictatorship. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giollabhuí, S.M. 2011. ‘How things fell apart: candidate selection and the cohesion of dominant parties in South Africa and Nambia’, Party Politics 19, 4: 577–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hornsby, C. 1989. ‘The social structure of the national assembly in Kenya, 1963–1983’, Journal of Modern African Studies 27, 2: 275–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ichino, N. & Nathan, N.L.. 2013. ‘Do primaries improve electoral performance? Clientelism and intra-party conflict in Ghana’, American Journal of Political Science 57, 2: 428–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, W.R. 1970. The Cameroon Federation: political integration in a fragmented society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Joseph, R. 1978. Gaullist Africa: Cameroon under Ahmadu Ahidjo. Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishing.Google Scholar
Kamga, G. & Kamdem, E.. 2015. ‘The origin and development of emergency regimes in Cameroon’, Fundamina: A Journal of Legal History 21, 2: 289–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konings, P. 1996. ‘The post-colonial state and economic and political reforms in Cameroon’, in Jiberto, A.F. & Mommen, A., eds. Liberalization in the developing world: institutional and economic change in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. New York, NY: Routledge, 244–65.Google Scholar
Koter, D. 2017. ‘Costly electoral campaigns and the changing composition and quality of parliament: evidence from Benin’, African Affairs 116, 465: 573–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krieger, M. 2008. Cameroon's Social Democratic Front: its history and prospects as an opposition political party (1990–2011). Bamenda: Langaa RPCIG.Google Scholar
Le Vine, V.T. 1971. The Cameroon Federal Republic. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Lindberg, S.I. 2010. ‘What accountability pressures do MPs in Africa face and how do they respond? Evidence from Ghana’, Journal of Modern African Studies 48, 1: 117–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mbaku, J.M. & Takougang, J.. 2004. The Leadership Challenge in Africa: Cameroon under Paul Biya. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Morse, Y.L. 2019. How Autocrats Compete: parties, patrons, and unfair elections in Africa. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, H.D. 1973. Area handbook for the United Republic of Cameroon. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Njoh Mouelle, E. 2002. Depute de la nation. Yaoundé: Presses de l'Université Catholique d'Afrique Centrale.Google Scholar
Ntamack, V. 2011. ‘The national assembly and democratic change in Cameroon from 1990–2007.’ Yaoundé, doctoral dissertation.Google Scholar
Nyamnjoh, F. & Rowlands, M.. 1998. ‘Elite association and the politics of belonging in Cameroon’, Africa 68, 3: 320–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Opalo, K.O. 2012. ‘African elections: two divergent trends’, Journal of Democracy 23, 3: 80–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Opalo, K.O. 2019. Legislative Development in Africa: politics and postcolonial legacies. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinkston, A. 2016. ‘Insider democracy: private sector weakness and the closed political class in democratic Africa.’ Cambridge, MA, doctoral dissertation.Google Scholar
Raleigh, C. & Wigmore-Shepherd, D.. 2020. ‘Elite coalitions and power balance across African regimes: introducing the African cabinet and political elite data project (ACPED)’, Ethnopolitics First Look.Google Scholar
Reuter, O.J. & Turovsky, R.. 2014. ‘Dominant party rule and legislative leadership in authoritarian regimes’, Party Politics 20, 5: 663–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Socpa, A. 2003. Démocratisation et autochtonie au Cameroun: trajectories régionales divergentes. Munster: LIT Verlag.Google Scholar
Stark, F.M. 1976. ‘Federalism in Cameroon: the shadow and the reality’, Canadian Journal of African Studies 10, 3: 423–42.Google Scholar
Takougang, J. & Krieger, M.. 1998. Africa State and Society in the 1990s: Cameroon's political crossroads. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, M.A. & Sissokho, O.. 2005. ‘Liaison legislature: the role of the national assembly in Senegal’, Journal of Modern African Studies 43, 1: 97–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touo, H. 2010. ‘Gender equality, legislative recruitment process and selection of other political executives in modern politics: some lessons from Cameroon. Dar es Salaam: APSA Africa Workshop.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tripp, A.M. & Kang, A.. 2008. ‘The global impact of electoral quotas: the fast track to increased legislative female representation’, Comparative Political Studies 41, 3: 338–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Union, I.-P. 1973. ‘Cameroon.’ Geneva: IPU.Google Scholar
Union, I.-P. 1978. ‘Cameroon.’ Geneva: IPU.Google Scholar
Van de Walle, N. 1994. ‘Neopatrimonialism and democracy in Africa, with an illustration from Cameroon’, in Widner, J.A., ed. Economic Change and Political Liberalization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Van de Walle, N. 2001. African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, S.S. 2018. ‘An uphill battle: candidate selection and political accountability in Africa.’ Boston, MA, American Political Science Association Annual Meeting.Google Scholar
Weghorst, K.R. Forthcoming. Activist Origins of Political Ambition: opposition candidacy in electoral authoritarian regimes. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Morse supplementary material

Appendices 1-6

Download Morse supplementary material(File)
File 142.5 KB