Burkina Faso
Militant groups and several coups, have plaqued the West African state in recent years
In 2015 Burkina Faso had its first competitive elections since 1987 due to large popular protests, which opened a window to genuine democratic transition. However, the influx of militant jihadist groups from neighbouring states, have heavily destabilished the country. The continued fighting between the jihadists and the government has led to two different military coups in 2022: One in January, which removed the elected president and another in September. Both were justified by the need to fight the jihadists more effectively. The current president, Ibrahim Traore, has publicly promised to hold new democratic elections when the security situation is under control.
The Burkina population have no clearly defined democratic choice, since the political parties fail to formulate coherent policy and claim affiliation with different ideologies depending on convenience including access to funding, capacity-building, and policy issues.
Further, despite demographic overrepresentation there is a severe underrepresentation of women and youth.
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Population: 20,321,378.
Liberal Democracy Index: 0.22.*
[LDI encaptures both electoral and liberal aspects of democracy]
Proportions of Seats held by Women in Parlament: 16.9%**
Proportions of Seats held by Youth under 30 in Parlament: 0%**
*V-Dem Institute 2023
**IPU.org 2023
