Following a military coup in 1999 and flawed and violence-ridden elections in 2000, democracy in Côte d’Ivoire faces an uphill battle against the forces of xenophobia and ethnic chauvinism.
About the Author
Jeanne Maddox Toungara is professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she teaches courses on Africa and the African diaspora. Her research interests include political culture, gender, and state formation in modern Africa. She lived in Côte d’Ivoire for 15 years and is completing a book-length manuscript about a nineteenth-century kingdom founded in its northwestern region.
Ghana held its fourth successful elections in late 2008 and subsequently witnessed the peaceful handover of power from ruling party to opposition. The country’s leaders must now reform its institutions…
