Andreas Schedler in his work “The Logic of Electoral Authoritarianism” outlines the presence of a new type of authoritarianism. Unlike previous iterations, the traditional communist and fascist states with complete control over all aspects of their country and information, these new authoritarian nations choose to use elements of democracy as a ways of legitimation and control. A common way to do this, as Schedler discusses, is through the ideal of Electoral Authoritarianism, referred to in other works as dominant party rule. Essentially it means that while there are elections that are held and opposition parties are able to run, yet there is not a real expectation that these opposition will win and manipulation tactics are used by the dominant party to ensure this (Schedler, 3 7-8).
It is clear that Rwanda is an example of dominant party rule. The Rwandan PatrioticFront has been in power since they contributed to the end of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Paul Kagame himself has been President of the nation since 2000, with a recent constitutional change allowing him to stay in power until at least 2034. This fact alone disqualifies Rwanda from being considered a fully functioning democracy, as it is not possible to have a democracy if there has never been any example of a successful transfer of power. This is because having one party dominant prevents neutral observers from understanding how said party might react to having its power taken away. But in the case of Rwanda, the Rwandan Patriotic Front goes even farther in its attempts to suppress opposition even while claiming to be democratic.
In reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Freedom House, it is openly acknowledged that President Kagame actively suppresses all criticism in Rwanda, especially those who run against him. Elections are marred by disappearances of family members, killings, and arbitrary detention. Leaders of opposition parties who actually gain traction often end up arrested for crimes such as “disruption of the peace” or undermining the government. Fear and coercion are effective tools, keeping people scared of truly opposing the government in case they are the next victim to disappear or be found dead. Furthermore, not only are opponents and civil society regularly silenced in the run up to elections, but the 2017 elections also showed signed of irregularities, with the US and European Union questioning the vote (https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/18/rwanda-politically-closed-elections).
Rwanda shows all signs of the dominant party rule, and has since 1994. The dominant party in question, the Rwandan Patriotic Front has maintained its hold with no real opposition for decades, even while claiming democratic rule. Though there is voting and opponents are allowed to run, the elections cannot truly be considered fair and free as would be expected in a democracy due to active and violent suppression of opposition as well as voting irregularities which ensured that Paul Kagame remains in power, often receiving extremely high numbers, in 2018 winning with 99% of the vote (https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/18/rwanda-politically-closed-elections). The façade of democracy in the country is thinning and more and more are starting to call Rwanda an authoritarian state despite it’s leaders popularity on the international stage. However, much will need to change before Rwanda is able to successfully move from a dominant party state to a true democracy.
Works Cited:
- Avenue, Human Rights Watch |. 350 Fifth, et al. “No Space for Criticism of Rwanda.” Human Rights Watch, 27 June 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/27/no-space-criticism-rwanda.
- —. “Rwanda: Politically Closed Elections.” Human Rights Watch, 18 Aug. 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/18/rwanda-politically-closed-elections.
- Burke, Jason, et al. “Freed Rwandan Opposition Leader Vows to Continue Struggle.” The Guardian, 24 Sept. 2018. http://www.theguardian.com, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/24/freed-rwandan-opposition-leader-victoire-ingabire-vows-to-continue-struggle.
- CNN, Kara Fox. “Rwandan Opposition Leader Stands by Her Innocence at Long-Awaited Trial.” CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/africa/rwanda-diane-rwigara-trial-asequals-intl/index.html. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.
- Elections in Rwanda. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/08/rwandas-repressive-tactics-silence-dissent-before-elections/. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.
- Rwanda | Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/country/rwanda/freedom-world/2019. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.
- Schedler, Andreas, editor. Electoral Authoritarianism: The Dynamics of Unfree Competition. L. Rienner Publishers, Inc, 2006.
- Sundaram, Anjan. “Rwanda: The Darling Tyrant.” POLITICO Magazine, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/rwanda-paul-kagame-americas-darling-tyrant-103963.html. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.
Rwanda Reconsidered 