New Books In African Studies

In 2024, Senegal faced a severe constitutional and electoral crisis. The presidential vote was postponed, tensions escalated, and fears of democratic breakdown intensified. Yet democracy held. Why? In this episode of People Power Politics, Temitayo Odeyemi speaks with Catherine Lena Kelly and Ibrahima Fall and about their Journal of Democracy article, “Why Senegal’s Democracy Survived.” They examine how the Constitutional Council asserted its independence under executive pressure, how civil society mobilised to defend constitutional norms, and how what they call democratic “muscle memory” shaped citizen response. The discussion situates Senegal’s experience within a wider regional context of coups and democratic regression. What explains Senegal’s divergence? Are its institutional safeguards transferable, or deeply context-specific? And what lessons does this case hold for democracies worldwide facing executive overreach? Catherine Lena Kelly is Director of Engagement at the Africa Center for Strategic Stu