非洲風情：貝寧─反抗是民主催化劑
- 2021年12月30日
- 讀畢需時 2 分鐘
已更新：2022年12月13日
在西非的貝寧，馬蒂厄・克雷庫少校於1972年上台，結束政變和反政變的惡性循環。隨後成立貝寧人民革命黨，及捍衛革命委員會。即使公民有權在指定名單中，投票選出候選人，但左傾政府仍主導大部分政治機構。
受馬克思ー列寧主義影響，國有企業生產效能低，私營部門受到官方嚴格控制。結果國債增至十億美元，拖累教育、醫療等公共開支大量削減，激起民間反對聲音，當中以達荷美共產黨為主要的力量。
最終，克雷庫被迫放棄社會主義，與國際貨幣基金組織簽署協議。當局會在遵守結構調整方案下，獲得財政上的援助。他在1987年辭去軍事職務，反對派索格洛勝出數年後的大選。克雷庫亦在五年後捲土重來，標誌著貝寧政治改革的成果，權力得以和平移交。
非洲在五十年代掀起去殖民化浪潮，被外界視為非洲解放運動。其中三十五個國家，九十年代起重新引入多黨制，則被視為第二階段解放。貝寧的歷史印證民主步伐，仍取決於國內情況和國際壓力的互動。
Benin - Resistance From Bottom to Top
In Benin, Major Mathieu Kérékou ended the cycle of coup and counter-coup in 1972. He soon established the People’s Revolutionary Party of Benin.
Empowered by the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, citizens could vote among selected candidates, though left-leaning presided over the political structure.
The practice of Marxism-Leninism resulted in the inefficient state-owned companies and tight constraints on the private sectors. At last, the national debt expanded to $1 billion.
In addition, failure of education and health expenditure, escalated the pro-democracy movement, the Communist Party of Dahomey in particular.
Kérékou had little choice but signed an agreement with the IMF, in hopes of securing financial assistance under the Structural Adjustment Programme.
After resigning from his military position, Soglo defeated him in the 1991 election. That Kérékou staged a comeback five years later marked a successful political transition.
Decolonization in the 1950s was considered as African liberation. The reintroduction of multiparty elections of 35 countries in the 1990s would definitely be a new phase.
Illustrated by the case of Benin, the progress of democratization still relies heavily on two factors: the integration between domestic context and international pressure matters.
名稱：非洲民主：成功、失敗與政治改革的鬥爭 (暫譯) (Democracy in Africa: Successes, Failures, and the Struggle for Political Reform)
作者：Nic Cheeseman
年份：2015
出版地：美國
出版社：劍橋大學出版社
類別：非洲政治
評分：7/10
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