Abstract
The 2011 crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ivory Coast, Libya and 2008 Zimbabwe crises provide grounds that contextualize the true nature of the African Union's (AU) legitimacy claim. Several scholars who either argue for or against AU's legitimacy claim often augment their diverse positions with nearly plausible rationales. However, there has been little exploration of the underlying factors that might have informed the diversity in positions. In other words, this paper will tend to identify the foundation that necessitates alleged doubts on the AU's legitimacy. We argue that questions on the legitimacy of AU stems from lack of grassroots participation in various countries that subsequently form the Union. Isolated conception of AU's legitimacy is incomplete without thorough evaluation of the legitimacy of its constituent members.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 77-100 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Journal of African Union Studies |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 2-3 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- African Union
- Crises
- DRC
- Ivory coast
- Legitimacy
- Libya
- Zimbabwe
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Development
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations