Electoral Authoritarianism in Togo: How Has Foreign Aid Impacted the Democratization Process in Togo From 2005 to 2010?

Abstract

After four decades of military dictatorship, Togo is still facing a dilemma of whether to break with the past and take a path of democratization or make changes in the continuity. The death of the former President Gnassingbe Eyadema in 2005 was seen by the Togolese community at home and around the world as a window of opportunity or a step toward the emergence of the political liberalization in the country. Unfortunately, with the backing of the Togolese army, Faure Gnassingbe, one of the sons of Eyadema, was enthroned as the country’s new President since 2005. The international economic sanctions on Togo in the aftermath of the death of Eyadema, due to continuing human rights abuses and violations by the authoritarian regime, have accentuated the already acute suffering and poverty of the Togolese population. However, the 2006 Global Political Agreement reached between the traditional political opposition parties and the government paved the way to the normalization of the international cooperation with Togo and hence the lifting of economic sanctions by the international community. Drawing from Solow-Swan growth model and a cross-national causality test of the development-democracy-growth hypothesis of Abbas Pourgerami, this paper investigates the impact of foreign aid on the democratization process since 2005 and argues that foreign aid played a paramount role in consolidating electoral authoritarianism instead of establishing a viable democracy in Togo.