PhD Research Proposal.pdf

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1、Diplome dEtudes Approfondi thesis Proposal for the CODESRIA Small Grants Programme for Thesis Writing 2008 TOPIC: The Cameroon Electoral System, Processes and Outcomes through the Prism of the Performance of the Government and Opposition Parties By Miss Ngum Awasom Fru Email: Awasom Fru Telephone: (

2、237)7735 83 10 Matrise Political Science University of Yaound 11. 1.1.1 Background Elections in Africa are generally badly organized by the incumbents1 and are usually accompanied by contestations, violence, and bloodshed often presented as tribal killings in the western media. A few cases of recent

3、 elections are illustrative of this phenomenon. The 2007 general elections in Nigeria that culminated in the election of President YaraAdua was contested by the opposition and the international observer team and ended in court. The December 2007 elections in Kenya resulted in total violence that cla

4、imed more than 1000 lives and has been presented as tribal killings between the dominant Kikuyu and the Luo. This image of elections overflows in Africa affirms stereotypes that all African problems can be reduced to savage tribal violence and killings. An examination of electoral systems, processes

5、 and outcomes in Africa is therefore important as a contribution to peace and conflict resolution and the nation-building endeavours of Africa which is comparatively a continent with young, fragile nation-states in the offing. Electoral systems are today viewed as one of the most influential of all

6、political institutions and are therefore of crucial importance to the broader issue of governance. This study intends to look at the electoral system and elections in Cameroon since the inception of multipartyism in 1990. In Cameroon elections are organized at a national level for a head of state-th

7、e president-a legislature and local governments. The president used to be elected for a five year term but a 1996 constitutional amendment changed the presidential tenure to seven years. The National Assembly has 180 members who are elected for a five year term in single and multi-seat constituencie

8、s. Local government elections take place after every five years. Cameroon is so far a one-party dominant state with the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement in power. Opposition parties are allowed to stand for elections but they are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. 1 Excep

9、tions to this include the 2007 general elections in Mauretania that was acceptable to all the contesting parties and was confirmed by international observers as free and fair; elections in post-Apartheid South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, the Seychelles and Mauritius Islands and a few doted cases in W

10、est Africa. 1 Cameroons first multiple legislative and presidential elections were held in 1992 followed by municipal elections in 1996 and another round of legislative and presidential elections in 1997. In 2004 presidential elections were held while in 2007 parliamentary and municipal elections we

11、re organized. Each organized election since 1992 is characterized by the expansion of the government party and the retreat of the opposition. The Cameroon electoral processes and trends need to be examined critically to explain this situation. 1.1.2 Theoretical and Conceptual Issues (i)The Principle

12、 of Elections Elections are an important part of the democratic process which allows various political actors to compete over choices and issues. Sue Nelson (2001) notes that the goal of elections is to have an open and competitive process that allows voters to pronounce on an issue or choose a repr

13、esentative. The results of the elections should accurately reflect the will of the voters. Elections are generally demanding and require a multitude of actors and institutions whose intervention is critical to the holding of a credible election. There is also the need for a clear legal and instituti

14、onal foundation which establishes the scope and nature of participation, election administration and oversight. For free, fair and equitable elections to be achieved certain acceptable elements must be put in place and these include: an equitable and fair electoral framework; a professional neutral

15、and transparent election administration; a generally acceptable code of ethical behaviour in political and press freedom; accountability of all participants; integrity safeguard mechanism and the enforcement of the electoral laws and other relevant laws. (ii) Overview of the Electoral system in Came

16、roon One cannot study elections in a given country without understanding the electoral system because it translates the votes in an election into results-offices/seats/issues-won by candidates/parties. There are two key variables. The first is the electoral model used: whether a plurality/majority,

17、proportional, mixed or other systems used. The mathematical formula used to calculate the seats allocated, the ballot structure (i.e. whether the voter votes for a candidate or a party and whether the voter makes a single choice or expresses a series of preferences) and the district magnitude or siz

18、e (i.e. how many representatives to the legislature or municipality that district elects). The second variable is the authority charged with managing the elections from beginning to finish. Is that authority an independent body or a dependent body? We have seen how these election managing mechanisms

19、 have operated successfully in Sierra Leone and Mauritania in 2007 but failed woefully elsewhere as was the case in Nigeria (2007) and recently in Kenya. The way an electoral system is designed also affects other areas of electoral laws. The choice of an electoral system impacts on the way electoral

20、 constituencies or districts are demarcated, the registration of voters, the designing of ballot papers, and the counting of votes among other things. In Cameroon the electoral system is determined by the type of election that is being organized. For the national legislature and municipal elections,

21、 the Party Block Vote (PBV) system is used. The PBV is a plural/majority system using multi-member 2districts in which voters cast a single party-centred vote for a party of choice, and do not choice between candidates. The party with an absolute majority vote will win every seat in the electoral di

22、strict. In case of no clear winner, the seats would be proportionately divided. The electoral system for presidential elections in Cameroon is the First Past The Post (FPTP). FPTP is the simplest form of plurality/majority electoral system. The winning candidate is the one who gains more votes than

23、any other candidate, even if this is not the absolute majority of valid votes. The system uses single-member districts and the voters vote is not an absolute majority of valid votes. This system of elections has proved to favour the incumbent. Cameroon opposition parties failed to force the governme

24、nt party to adopt a two-round majority run-off system of elections at the presidential level as is practiced in France and several Francophone countries. In 2000 Senegalese opposition parties denied President Abdou Diouf a first-round victory and by previous agreement, united behind the leading oppo

25、sition candidate, Abdoulaye Wade, the defeat the long-standing Socialist Party leader in the second round. (iii)Electoral Processes encompasses the entire election process comprising pre-election, election and post election management. (iv)Electoral outcomes refer to the statistical performance of t

26、he various candidates and parties in elections. 2.0 Literature Review Elections in Cameroon, particularly since the reintroduction of multipartyism in Cameroon in 1990, has been the subject of scholarly writing. A critical review of scholarly works provides useful methodological insights for the wor

27、k as well as a lacuna that needs to be filled. Scholars writing on the organization of elections in Cameroon (cf. Wallechnisky 2006: 286, Gros 1995, Fombad 2003, Emvana 2005, Ngwana 2004, Sindjoun 2005, Takougang 2003, Krieger 1994) or international observers including the National Democratic Instit

28、ute and the Commonwealth Group of Nations are generally unanimous about its flawed nature (cf. NDI 1993). Wallechnisky (2006: 286) describes Cameroons electoral process in these terms: Every few years, President Biya stages an election to justify his continuing reign, but these elections have no cre

29、dibility. In fact, Biya is credited with a creative innovation in the world of phony elections. In 2004, annoyed by the criticisms of international vote-monitoring groups, he paid his own set of international observers, six-ex-US congressmen, who certified his election as free and fair. The flawed n

30、ature of elections in Cameroon has not been satisfactorily explored by scholars. They have neither identified nor analysed the weakest link in the Cameroon electoral machinery. There is need for a critical study of the processes of organizing elections in Cameroon with view to establishing its flawe

31、d nature and the extent to which it conforms or not to other systems in Africa or to the prescribed spirit of free and fair elections. Further more, the whole electoral process including the registration of voters, election proper, vote counting and proclamation of results need to be scrutinized for

32、 each of the elections held in Cameroon. 3Nohlen et al (1999), in “Elections and Electoral Systems in Africa”, provide a useful theoretical and conceptual frame for this study. But their presentation of types of electoral systems and political regimes in Africa is somewhat muddled. Regime types in A

33、frica, comprising parliamentary, presidential and semi-presidential are not electoral systems. The contributions of Bogaards (2000), Ishiyama (2000), Vengroff (2004) are useful in appreciating electoral systems and contextualizing the Cameroon case. Authors studying elections in Cameroon since the r

34、eintroduction of multipartyism in 1990 tend to select specific elections for scientific scrutiny (cf.Gros 1995: 112-127, Takougang 2003; Fonchingong 1998, Krieger 1994, Ngoh 2004, Fombad and Fonyam 2004). While this approach has the advantage of thoroughness, it does not allow one to determine and a

35、ppreciate electoral trends over an appreciably long period of about a decade and a half. By examining the conduct and outcome of elections over a significantly broad timeframe, it would be possible to unravel the trajectory of elections. 3.0 Aims and Objectives of Study This study is a critical exam

36、ination elections in Cameroon with a focus on the electoral systems, the organizational processes of the elections and their outcomes. It looks at the context in which the electoral system was conceived, and the preparation and management of elections. What is the role of electoral systems in this p

37、rocess of attitude formation in terms of regime support and legitimacy? Does the electoral institution have differential impacts on peoples attitudes toward their political systems in various social contexts? How does the Cameroon electoral system interact with the influence of ethnic heterogeneity

38、on citizens levels of institutional trust, and satisfaction with democracy in a country where there is an Anglophone-Francophone divide which is further compounded by its 250 ethnic groups? These questions point to the importance of the survey method in this study. A well planned and a well organize

39、d election that is professionally administered can increase the participation of candidates and voters and build confidence in the electoral process and the election results. Good planning can avoid many of the problems often encountered during the operational phases and help the Election Management

40、 Body variously known as Independent Electoral Committee, Autonomous Electoral Committee etc meet the dates in its electoral calendar. Good planning can help an electoral management board to ensure that it has created a good organizational structure, with productive management and operational system

41、s. It can also ensure that it has a professional and well trained staff and maintain good relations with the political parties, candidates, media and voters. The electoral systems and the various bodies established by the Cameroon government to manage elections have to be scrutinized to appreciate e

42、lectoral outcomes. The organization of elections in Cameroon can be comprehensively understood by examining electoral management bodies and the existing laws used in governing the organization of elections. This makes it necessary to examine the periodic elections against a background of the Elector

43、al Management Bodies and the operational legal frameworks. The 1992 election management and legal frames were comparatively liberal and allowed room for the opposition to overthrow the government party as the election results in the early 1990s revealed. After the mid-1990s, the government systemati

44、cally 4modified the electoral management system to clear any possible obstacle to its winning absolute majorities. There is therefore a relationship between the Electoral Management Bodies and their operational legal frameworks and the performance of the various political parties. 3.1.1 Hypothesis t

45、o be investigated: From the aims and objectives of this study, the following hypotheses are formulated: (i) That the electoral system choice in Cameroon is a fundamentally political process that emanated principally from the government; the consideration of the political advantage of the government

46、party was the principal consideration. The electoral system is therefore designed to work to the partisan advantage of the incumbent. (ii) That the principal determinants of electoral outcomes are the government appointed officials of the Ministerial of Territorial Administration comprising Governor

47、s, Divisional Officers and Sub-Divisional Officers who register voters, publish voters lists and proclaim results. (iii) That various Electoral Management Bodies established since the reintroduction of multipartyism are largely cosmetic and do not have any real powers to influence elections in Camer

48、oon. (iv). That elections outcome since 1992 is characterized by the expansion of the government party and the retreat of the opposition. (iv) That international Election Observers have had a minimal effect on the electoral processes in Cameroon (iv) That each type of democracy has much to learn fro

49、m the positive or negative experiences of the other. Elections practices in countries surrounding Cameroon like Nigeria, Chad, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, and Central African Republic impact directly on electoral practices in Cameroon. 4.0 Partition of thesis This work is divided in

50、to seven chapters. Chapter one is the introduction and deals with conceptual and theoretical issues. Chapter two is a comparative overview of electoral systems with particular reference to Francophone Africa. In most of Francophone Africa, the new democratic institutions including the electoral syst