Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 7, 8, 9
Lesson
Minimum of 2 scholarly sources
Instructions
Many countries have gone through various ways of governing-by one, by a group, or by the people. Pick one developing country. Examine this country’s political history and current barriers in developing their democracy. Create a concise argument on the type of democracy they should institute and why.

Use the following list to select your developing country: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1876/310mab.pdf (Links to an external site.)

Writing Requirements (APA format)

Length: 1.5-2 pages (not including title page or references page)
1-inch margins
Double spaced
12-point Times New Roman font
Title page
References page (minimum of 2 scholarly sources)

Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage

SOLUTION

Developing a Democracy: Gabon

Gabon became among the four French’s territories in equatorial Africa in 1910. This went on until the country became fully independent in 1960. During this time, there was the existence of two political parties; Gabonese Democratic and Social Union(UDSG) and Gabonese Democratic Bloc (BDG). None of these parties attained a majority win in the first post-independence election. This was under a parliamentary system. There was later an agreement to form a one-party system during the 1961 election (Ndong, 2018). This system worked until 1963 when BDG started to force UDSG to the formation of a merger or its members to resign altogether. Gabon amended the constitution in 1966 to allow the vice president to succeed the president automatically in case he died in office. In 1967, Leon M’BA and Omar Bongo were elected as president and vice president respectively under the BDG party and won all the National Assembly seats. Omar Bongo became president later that year after the death of M’Ba and made the country a [cmppp_restricted] one-party state in 1968 (Ndong, 2018). Omar Bongo was president from 1967 up to 2009. His reign was marred with issues ranging to numerous constitutional changes to attempted coups among others. His son Ali Bongo is the current president of the country.

Currently, there are various barriers hindering Gabon’s democracy. Among them is the state’s confiscation of power using fraud through rigged elections. The elections results are usually known in advance even before the ballots are cast. There is widespread corruption that ensures individuals responsible for the electoral process are well paid to work in favor of the state.

The country has also had several constitutional amendments that are unilaterally decided upon by the ruling party. This works to strengthen the president’s unlimited powers (Ndong, 2018). As a result, there is a stagnation of democracy in the country.

The constitutional court in the country also works as a barrier to democracy. The institution is currently headed by the president’s step-mother. Other members also compose former chiefs involved with the ruling party. As a result, it has become difficult to establish legal mechanisms that would pave the way for transparent, reliable, and democratic elections. A good example is where the court has been opposing the introduction of biometrics into the electoral system. Journalists are normally imprisoned or even threatened with death in instances where they expose anti-democratic actions and corruption.

Based on the way Gabon’s government is structured, it is supposed to operate as both a presidential and parliamentary democracy. However, this seems to have failed since it is now more of a dictatorship based on how the ruling party (PDG) takes over everything (Ndong, 2018). Magstadt  (2017) asserts that the British parliamentary democracy entails a fusion of indefinite terms of office, powers, dual executive, and disciplined parties. Such a model has not been able to function effectively in Gabon.

In order to ensure that democracy prevails, the country ought to institute a direct democracy. This will ensure that the citizens have the ability to vote for policies directly without having to rely on representatives. Any law that needs to be passed has to go through the people (Janda, 2017). This is because it has been proven that the relevant representatives cannot be trusted to uphold the interests of the people given the rampant corruption tendencies. This will ensure that the president does not have unlimited powers as it is at the moment.

Through this form of democracy, ordinary citizens can easily request the government to repeal unwanted and unprecedented laws in case they achieve a majority vote. This will help to eliminate the dictatorial laws that have been implemented over the years. Direct democracy will also aid the people’s voice to be heard and also reduce chances of corruption (Janda, 2017). Given the population of the country (approximately 2.1 million), it would be feasible to institute direct democracy.

References
Janda, K. (2017). The challenge of democracy: American Government in Global Politics (14th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues (12th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage

Ndong, L. (2018). Gabon: Provoking Change. Atramenta. [/cmppp_restricted]