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Elections and Ethnic Violence in Côte d’Ivoire: The Unfinished Business of Succession and Democratic Transition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2016

Cyril K. Daddieh
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Extract

For nearly half a century politics in Côte d’Ivoire had been dominated by a single individual, Félix Houphouët-Boigny; a single political party, the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire, PDCI); and roughly the same cohort of politicobureaucratic elites. This rare combination of regime longevity and elite cohesion had produced considerable state competence and impressive economic growth which, in turn, fostered relative peace between the different classes, the various ethnic and religious groups, and indigenous Ivorians and foreign residents. Thus, Côte d’Ivoire was heralded as an oasis of peace and prosperity and a haven for immigrants seeking refuge from economic impoverishment and ethnic or civil strife at home.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 29 , Issue 1-2 , 2001 , pp. 14 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2001 

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References

Notes

1. For more details, see Bakary, Tessy, “Elite Transformation and Political Succession,” in Zartman, I.W. and Delgado, C. (ed.), The Political Economy of the Ivory Coast (New York, US: Praeger, 1984), pp. 38–46 Google Scholar; and Crook, Richard, “Patrimonialism, Administrative Effectiveness, and Economic Development in Côte d’Ivoire,” African Affairs 88, no. 4 (April 1989): 205–228 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

2. For their competing orientations, see Houphouèt-Boigny, Félix, “Black Africa and the French Union,” Foreign Affairs 35, no. 4 (July 1957): 595 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Nkrumah, Kwame, “African Prospect,” Foreign Affairs 37, no. 1 (October 1958): 45–53 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3. See Daddieh, Cyril K., “Ivory Coast,” in Shaw, Timothy M. and Aluko, Olajide (ed.), The Political Economy of African Foreign Policy (New York, US: St. Martin’s Press, 1984), pp. 122–144 Google Scholar.

4. Daddieh, pp. 126–130.

5. See Gyimah-Boadi, E. and Daddieh, Cyril, “Economic Reform and Political Liberalization in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire: A Preliminary Assessment of Implications for Nation Building,” in Mengisteab, Kidane and Daddieh, Cyril (ed.), State Building and Democratization in Africa: Faith, Hope, and Realities (Westport: Praeger, 1999), especially pp. 130–138 Google Scholar.

6. Gyimah-Boadi and Daddieh, pp. 142–144.

7. The sugar scheme was plagued by such high cost overruns and financial mismanagement that it cost Bédié and two other colleagues their ministerial positions. For more on this, see Stryker, Richard E., “A Local Perspective on Developmental Strategy in the Ivory Coast,” in Lofchie, Michael F. (ed.), The State of the Nations: Constraints on Development in Independent Africa (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), p. 130 Google Scholar.

8. For an earlier attempt at explication, see Daddieh, Cyril K., “Universities and Political Protest in Africa: The Case of Côte d’Ivoire,” ISSUE: A Journal of Opinion XXIV/I (Winter/Spring 1996), pp. 57–60 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Widner, Jennifer, “The 1990 Elections in Côte d’Ivoire,” ISSUE: A Journal of Opinion XX/1 (Winter 1991): 31–40 Google Scholar.

9. See The Europa World Yearbook 1995 Volume I (London: Europa Publications Limited, 1995), pp. 906–907.

10. See The Europa World Yearbook 1994 Volume I (London: Europa Publications Limited, 1994), pp. 867–869.

11. For more on this, see Mundt, Robert J., “Côte d’Ivoire: Continuity and Change in a Semi-Democracy,” in Clark, John F. and Gardinier, David (ed.), Political Reform in Francophone Africa (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1997), pp. 182–203 Google Scholar.

12. See “Abidjan, COTE D’IVOIRE: President Attacks Ouattara,” West Africa no. 4259 (22–28 January 2001): 26.

13. See Brahima Ouedraogo, “Exodus from Côte d’Ivoire,” West Africa no. 4261 (5–11 February 2001): 21.