Les usages politiques du charisme présidentiel dans la domination électorale du R.D.P.C. au Cameroun

Abstract

Alternation, as an essential principle of democracy, is not a reality in Cameroon, where one party dominates at both national and local level. The advent of democracy in 1990 suggests that there will be a real debate on political alternation in Cameroon. However, this is not the case. The ruling CPDM party dominates the electoral field, poll after poll. Political analysts specializing in electoral issues have come up with several explanations for the vote, both in Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular. In this sociological study on ‘The political uses of presidential charisma in the electoral domination of the CPDM’, which we attempt to understand on the basis of local elections, namely legislative and municipal elections from 1992 to 2020, we examine the uses, issues and strategies associated with presidential charisma, which the party uses to win elections. In what way does the political use of presidential charisma by election candidates contribute to the construction of the CPDM's victory in municipal and legislative elections, and to the consolidation of its domination of the Cameroonian political arena? This is the main question we set out to answer in the course of this research. Our main hypothesis already sets us apart from other models for explaining the vote, and gives an idea of the direction we are taking. Since the advent of multiparty politics in 1992, the CPDM's domination of legislative and municipal elections has been based on its electoral campaign strategy, which consists of relying on the figure of the father in order to gain credit from the electorate. The electoral campaign strategy is built around the presidential charisma because it is an instrument that seduces the masses; consequently, the electorate participates de facto in the domination of the CPDM. Based on an empirical and documentary study of the CPDM's legislative and municipal campaigns from 1992 to 2013, supplemented by qualitative field data from the observation of CPDM electoral campaigns in the city of Yaoundé in 2020, interviews and focus groups conducted with resource persons, this study attempts to shed light on the political implications of the CPDM's use of presidential charisma in the context of local elections. Through the political use of presidential charisma, the party implements a policy of electoral domination. Presidential charisma is at the root of the inequalities in electoral opportunities that pave the way to victory, thus consolidating its domination of all local elections in Cameroon to the detriment of the democracy it promotes. All this helps to make presidential charisma a factor in explaining the CPDM vote.