Georgia And Benin Research Paper

The West African nation of Benin (population of 10,879,829) is a presidential, representative democratic republic in which the president is head of state, head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, and legislative power is vested in both the government and the legislature, whereas the judiciary is independent of both the executive and the legislature.

In 1960, Benin gained independence from France and went through a series of turbulent regimes, including military coups and various types of government. In 1972, Mathieu Kerekou took control and imposed a Marxist-Leninist dictatorship, under single-party rule and military leadership that lasted for 17 years. As the country became bankrupt

Ironically, even though democracy seeks to eliminate conflict and bring about peace, achieving it often involves unrest, social upheaval, and even war as old and new regimes clash for power and control. Further, each country needs to transition to democracy in its own way based on its history, culture, political and economic conditions rather than according to set agendas provided by well-meaning donor nations.

Will Georgia and Benin be able to sustain their transition to democracy or lose their hard won freedom in backsliding towards their former political systems? The risk of regression is ever present and democratic achievements are no guarantee of permanent democracy. On a positive note democratic regimes have existed in both Georgia and Benin for nearly three decades.

Before 1970 only 46 countries in the world were considered to have some degree of democracy. Beginning with Portugal in 1977 the number of democracies expanded significantly through the mid-1980s as part of the third wave of democratization. Global democratization reached its highest point in 2005 (62.5%) and then the number of democracies began to decline over the next seven years (Figure 1), with losses in Africa, Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, and

Despite the incredible gains in democratization in the 20th and 21st centuries there has been periodic regression as well in what Huntington identified reverse waves. In counter-waves, countries fail to achieve their democratic goals or regress to previous authoritarian systems. Currently, we appear to be in a reverse wave; perhaps the end of the third wave. The Arab Spring had been anticipated as a fourth wave, but democracy has not taken hold in the Middle East.

It will be interesting to see if Georgia and Benin achieve full consolidation and become liberal