not generally take this form, but rather a series of more subtle mechanisms that reflect the more complicated balance between democracy and autocracy and the recent history of the region. These include the subversion of benefits intended (nowadays) for democratic states, difficult trade-offs (especially between stability and democracy), the rejection of Western values seen as political impositions and the ability to derive benefits from multiple fora i.e. ECOWAS and the AU (forum shopping). These mechanisms are then highlighted and examined in the context of West African regionalism, demonstrating how this regionalism has presented politico-security and legitimacy-boosting benefits for authoritarian West African leaders. Beyond the academic contribution, the findings of this article are also relevant in policy terms, both in West Africa and further afield. While the more extreme cases of authoritarianism in West Africa are now largely historic (with the removal of Blaise Compaoré in Burkina Faso in 2014 and Yaya Jammeh in Gambia in 2016, two of the remaining long term autocrats are now gone), it would be nevertheless complacent to assume that the trajectory towards democracy is now complete in the region. Despite the very real progress in terms of democratic transition in West Africa, democracy is not yet consolidated in many West African states. Democratic backsliding is a real danger in West Africa as it is in other parts of the world, including Europe, Latin America and the former Soviet Union (Diamond, Plattner and Walker 2016, 3). The mechanisms and actions described in this article could be used by any future democratic backsliders and may embolden them to launch more egregious attempts to subvert democracy. The information in this article is thus of use to those who would seek to understand both how previous authoritarian leaders sought to use regional cooperation to survive in power and to ensure that others would not be able to do the same in the future. Secondly, there are other regional bodies in Africa such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which have experienced democratising trends and
not generally take this form, but rather a series of more subtle mechanisms that reflect the more complicated balance between democracy and autocracy and the recent history of the region. These include the subversion of benefits intended (nowadays) for democratic states, difficult trade-offs (especially between stability and democracy), the rejection of Western values seen as political impositions and the ability to derive benefits from multiple fora i.e. ECOWAS and the AU (forum shopping). These mechanisms are then highlighted and examined in the context of West African regionalism, demonstrating how this regionalism has presented politico-security and legitimacy-boosting benefits for authoritarian West African leaders. Beyond the academic contribution, the findings of this article are also relevant in policy terms, both in West Africa and further afield. While the more extreme cases of authoritarianism in West Africa are now largely historic (with the removal of Blaise Compaoré in Burkina Faso in 2014 and Yaya Jammeh in Gambia in 2016, two of the remaining long term autocrats are now gone), it would be nevertheless complacent to assume that the trajectory towards democracy is now complete in the region. Despite the very real progress in terms of democratic transition in West Africa, democracy is not yet consolidated in many West African states. Democratic backsliding is a real danger in West Africa as it is in other parts of the world, including Europe, Latin America and the former Soviet Union (Diamond, Plattner and Walker 2016, 3). The mechanisms and actions described in this article could be used by any future democratic backsliders and may embolden them to launch more egregious attempts to subvert democracy. The information in this article is thus of use to those who would seek to understand both how previous authoritarian leaders sought to use regional cooperation to survive in power and to ensure that others would not be able to do the same in the future. Secondly, there are other regional bodies in Africa such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which have experienced democratising trends and
AUTHORITARIAN_REGIMES_IN_DEMOCRATIC_REGIONAL_ORGANIZATIONS_revised_.docx