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The Impact of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy

The Impact of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy ∗ The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has attempted, via a process of constitutional convergence, to develop a series of norms that will entrench good governance and democracy in its member states. The Protocol mandating this process has in practice been better at preventing coups d’état and the illegal overthrow of governments than it has been at fostering a culture of good governance. This paper analyses the substantive law of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy and some of the cases in which it has been deployed. I. INTRODUCTION Out of the fifteen states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) only two have never been subject to a military coup or an unconstitutional change of government. During the 1980s military coups in Ghana and Nigeria led to ECOWAS being dominated by increasingly authoritarian governments, and in the 1990s the eruption of decade-long civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone saw numerous coups and counter-coups. ECOWAS adopted the 2001 Democracy and Good Governance Protocol (the Protocol) in an attempt to deter and prevent military coups and unconstitutional changes of government. The Protocol contains a ‘trigger mechanism’ that automatically suspends states from ECOWAS http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png African Journal of International and Comparative Law Edinburgh University Press

The Impact of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy

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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
©© Edinburgh University Press 2011
Subject
Short article; African Studies
ISSN
0954-8890
eISSN
1755-1609
DOI
10.3366/ajicl.2011.0015
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

∗ The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has attempted, via a process of constitutional convergence, to develop a series of norms that will entrench good governance and democracy in its member states. The Protocol mandating this process has in practice been better at preventing coups d’état and the illegal overthrow of governments than it has been at fostering a culture of good governance. This paper analyses the substantive law of the ECOWAS Protocol on Good Governance and Democracy and some of the cases in which it has been deployed. I. INTRODUCTION Out of the fifteen states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) only two have never been subject to a military coup or an unconstitutional change of government. During the 1980s military coups in Ghana and Nigeria led to ECOWAS being dominated by increasingly authoritarian governments, and in the 1990s the eruption of decade-long civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone saw numerous coups and counter-coups. ECOWAS adopted the 2001 Democracy and Good Governance Protocol (the Protocol) in an attempt to deter and prevent military coups and unconstitutional changes of government. The Protocol contains a ‘trigger mechanism’ that automatically suspends states from ECOWAS

Journal

African Journal of International and Comparative Law – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Sep 1, 2011

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