Regime survival in the Gambia and Sierra Leone :a comparative study of the People's Progressive Party (1964-1994) and the All People's Congress (1968-1992)

Abstract

The People's Progressive Party of The Gambia and the All People's Congress of Sierra Leone provide two outstanding examples of regime survival. They form part of a select group of African states which, for many years, escaped the cycle of coup and counter-coup seen elsewhere on the continent. Africanist political scientists have neglected the phenomenon of political survival, concentrating instead on accounting for the frequency of military intervention. This study goes some way to redressing the imbalance. It explains the importance of studying survival and assesses the comparability of The Gambia and Sierra Leone. Despite the absence of an overarching theory of survival, elements of the conceptual literature (including the theory of personal rule, work undertaken on civilian control of the military, elections and international relations) provide a theoretical framework.