Paper short abstract:

The paper explores how the portrayals of Isabel dos Santos in the media reflect contradictory, gendered and temporal modalities of dynastic politics in Angola.

Paper long abstract:

Across the world, the sons and daughters of many state leaders frequently attract media attention for their exploits. They have privileged access to state resources and are often depicted as natural heirs in the succession line. The current President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Odimba, is the son of Omar Bongo who governed Gabon for 42 years until 2009. Like his father, he is considered the richest man in Gabon owing to the revenue he receives from the country's oil production. Other similar examples could be found in places like Togo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea or Uganda.

Like other famous children of politicians, Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former President of Angola, is the object of much media attention regarding her investments or her lavish spending habits. In this paper, we rely on a systematic study of newspaper articles, letters, blogs, and websites to examine the conflicting portrayals of Isabel from 2010 to 2018. This period covers the celebratory portrayals of Isabel by the mainstream media in Angola when she was expanding her business empire to her dismissal as head of Sonangol after her father stepped down from the Presidency in 2017.

We argue that the change in portrayals of Isabel over time especially by the mainstream Angolan media offers insight into the excesses and limits of dynastic politics in authoritarian settings. Whereas the singular position of Isabel as wealthy Presidential daughter ironically reinforced the patriarchal political oligarchy, her downfall demonstrates the limits of hereditary politics in Angola.

Paper short abstract:

The Bongo family has ruled Gabon since 1968 through El Hadj Omar Bongo and subsequently by his son Ali Bongo Ondimba. Despite a multitude of challenges over the last 30 years, the Bongo's have successfully maintained control of Gabonese affairs and this essay will examine how this has been achieved.

Paper long abstract:

Since its independence from France in 1960, the Bongo family has firmly been in control of the oil-rich central African nation of Gabon. El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba held the country's presidency from 1968 until his death in office in 2009. He was succeeded by his son, Ali Bongo Ondimba in 2009, who is president till date. During this tenure, the Bongo's have placed their family members in strategic decision making positions, to strengthen their control over the state apparatus. However, the Bongo's have experienced a multitude of direct challenges to their executive authority and control of Gabonese affairs over the past decades. These include, the transition to multiparty politics during the early 1990's, the 2009 split in the ruling Parti Democratique Gabonaise (PDG) and the ensuing 2009 presidential elections. In 2016 Ali Bongo, narrowly won the presidential election by just under 6000 votes, which was followed by standoff with the opposition. On 7 January 2019 there was an unsuccessful coup attempt, while Ali Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke. In this regard, I will examine the reasons which might explain the Bongo's ability to maintain their family dynasty, particularly since the return to multiparty politics. These would include but are not limited to; corruption, the use of extensive patronage, international support (particularly from France), ruling party cohesion and opposition weakness, and a manipulated democratic transition. From the research, we will be able to understand how family dynasties operate very differently from conventional political regimes.

Paper short abstract:

In Equatorial Guinea, family members of the president stand as the most relevant political actors. The most likely successor in the presidency is the incumbent's elder son, currently the country's vice-president. Political institutions are being used to secure a successful dynastic succession.

Paper long abstract:

Equatorial Guinea is an autocratic country under the rule of the same family members, the Nguemas, since independence in 1968. Francisco Macías Nguema was elected president in 1968 and initiated one of the most brutal regimes in Africa. He was ousted in 1979, in a coup led by his nephew, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who remains in power until today. Family members stand as the most relevant political actors as decision-making processes in various areas, from security to economy, are found in the hands of Obiang's relatives. The most likely successor in the presidency is the incumbent's son, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue, also known as Teodorín and currently the country's vice-president. This paper aims to explain the processes underlying the emergence of a political dynasty in an authoritarian context. To do so, I present a descriptive case study, anchored on how Obiang and his family have used political institutions to legitimize the control of the Equatorial Guinean state and the building of a political dynasty. I explore the reach of the regime elite and their control of political institutions (the cabinet and the ruling party) through network analysis, highlighting the role Teodorín Obiang holds in the country's political and economic life. Finally, I explain the way political institutions are also being used to secure a successful dynastic succession despite contrarian voices from both the opposition and the regime's inner-circle.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the phenomenon of hereditary successions in Africa in contexts of more or less competitive political systems. Building on the Senegalese case study, this paper investigates into Wade's family and the failure of familial succession from Former President Wade to his son Karim.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the phenomenon of political dynasties in Africa and how it challenges political regime characterization. It considers the processes of hereditary successions of leadership and power in Africa in contexts of more or less competitive political system. Although this phenomenon is often associated with certain types of néopatrimonial regimes, it is carried out through more or less competitive democratic structures in which elected positions of power are transmitted between members of the same family lineage within the structures of institutionalised political parties and electoral politics. Does the capture of political parties by a family jeopardize the democratization process? Does it reflects a logic of re-traditionnalisation or re-patrimonialisation of power? How do party supporters and elites respond to it? Does the formation of political dynasties shape new forms of political competition?

First, this paper presents the methodological questions raised by mapping and quantifying political dynasties in the world and more specifically in Africa since 1960. Second, it underlines the processes of familial transfer of leadership and power in Senegal through the case of former President Wade and his son Karim Wade.