Unconstitutional Changes of Government: The Democrat’s Dilemma in Africa

The document analyzes the AU's framework for democracy promotion, specifically its rejection of unconstitutional changes of government. It details the evolution of this principle from the Lomé Declaration of 2000 to the 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, and discusses the 'democrat's dilemma' where popular uprisings to remove authoritarian leaders conflict with strict constitutionalism. The author argues for more consistent application of sanctions against leaders who refuse to leave office after elections and suggests the Pan-African Parliament develop guidelines for managing civilian-led transitions to democracy.

• The African Union (AU) defines 'unconstitutional change of government' based on the Lomé Declaration of 2000 as including military coups against democratically elected governments, mercenary interventions, replacement by armed dissident groups, and the refusal of an incumbent government to relinquish power after free and fair elections.
• The 2007 African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance expanded the definition of unconstitutional change to include any amendment or revision of the constitution that infringes on democratic change of government, specifically to prevent leaders from scrapping term limits to remain in power.
• Eight AU member states have faced suspension or sanctions for unconstitutional changes of government: Madagascar, Togo, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Guinea, Niger, Guinea-Bissau, and Côte d’Ivoire.
• The 2011 uprisings in North Africa created a 'democrat's dilemma' for the AU, as the organization's architecture does not provide an adequate response to popular democratic uprisings, which are technically unconstitutional because they remove heads of state outside of elections.
• The AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) showed a level of institutionalized commitment to democracy in February 2011 by siding with protestors in Egypt and Libya, despite those countries being major budget contributors and the PSC containing other authoritarian states.
• The author suggests that the AU could resolve the dilemma of 'good coups' (those overthrowing bad governance) by strictly applying the definition that unconstitutional changes only apply to coups against 'democratically elected governments'.

APA

Sturman, K. (2011). Unconstitutional Changes of Government: The Democrat’s Dilemma in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Policy-Briefing-30.pdf

Chicago

Sturman, Kathryn. Unconstitutional Changes of Government: The Democrat’s Dilemma in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2011. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Policy-Briefing-30.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sturman |first1=Kathryn |title=Unconstitutional Changes of Government: The Democrat’s Dilemma in Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=30 March 2011 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Policy-Briefing-30.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sturman2011unconstitutional, author = {Sturman, Kathryn}, title = {{Unconstitutional Changes of Government: The Democrat’s Dilemma in Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2011}, month = mar, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Policy-Briefing-30.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }