Democratic Erosion, Military Coups and the Shifting Patterns of International Influence in West Africa

Abstract Book of the 12th International Academic Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences

Year: 2026

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Democratic Erosion, Military Coups and the Shifting Patterns of International Influence in West Africa

Pranav Kothur

ABSTRACT:

Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of military coups across West Africa, often framed as instances of democratic backsliding. This paper argues that these coups instead reflect a deeper erosion of democratic legitimacy rooted in persistent governance failures, and this erosion fundamentally reshapes how these states in the region engage with the international system. Drawing on comparative case studies analyzing Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, this research examines how failing democratic institutions plagued by prolonged political instability, corruption and weak administration have undermined the legitimacy of elected governments, creating the necessary conditions in which military intervention gained domestic acceptance. Expanding beyond domestic politics, this paper analyzes how coups transform states’ international credibility by tracing shifts in regional responses, security cooperation and diplomatic alignment in the aftermath of military takeovers. These findings demonstrate that while coup-led regimes routinely face international condemnation, sanctions and suspension from regional and Western institutions, they do not withdraw from global politics. Instead, these regimes actively modify their foreign policy, reframing sovereignty, national security and anti-Western rhetoric as alternative sources of international legitimacy. This dynamic produces a growing disconnect between domestic acceptance of military rule and international rejection of post-coup governments. By positioning West Africa’s coups as the intersection of comparative politics and international relations, this paper challenges the assumption that democratic legitimacy is a prerequisite for international credibility, showing instead that post-coup regimes actively construct alternative sources of credibility that reshape geopolitical engagement in the Global South.

Keywords: Comparative Politics; Foreign Affairs; Institutional Legitimacy; Military Coups; Sovereignty