Democratic Backsliding

Between 1990 and 2020, West Africa made significant strides toward democratic consolidation, creating the impression that the era of the coup d'état was a relic of the post-independence past. However, the period between 2021 and 2024 witnessed a dramatic and unsettling reversal of this trend, characterized by a rapid succession of military takeovers in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger—a geopolitical stretch now colloquially termed the "Coup Belt." This study examines the structural drivers, triggers, and implications of this contemporary resurgence of military interventions in West Africa. Utilizing a qualitative research design rooted in frustrated-democratization and structural-functionalism theories, the study relies on content analysis of secondary data, including academic literature, regional security reports, and institutional data from ECOWAS and the African Union. The findings reveal that the recent wave of coups is not merely an isolated series of military opportunism, but a symptomatic reflection of a deeper "crisis of trust" and democratic legitimacy. The resurgence is primarily driven by three intersecting catalysts: pervasive governance failures coupled with systemic corruption, a catastrophic escalation of jihadist insurgencies and insecurity in the Sahel, and public disillusionment with civilian leaders who manipulate constitutional term limits. Furthermore, the study highlights a shifting geopolitical paradigm, noting how regional juntas have actively weaponized populist, anti-colonial sentiment (particularly against France) to garner domestic civilian support, while pivoting toward new security alliances with external actors like Russia. Finally, the study analyzes the structural limitations of ECOWAS and the African Union, whose traditional toolkits of economic sanctions and political suspensions have largely failed to deter coup leaders or expedite democratic transitions. The study concludes that mitigating the threat of future military takeovers requires a normative shift from merely penalizing unconstitutional changes of government to proactively addressing the "democratic deficits" and institutional decay that legitimize military interventions in the eyes of the public.