The 1992 multiparty elections in Cameroon - Prospects for democracy and democratization

This paper argues that despite almost three decades of single-party rule that was supposed to eliminate regional and ethnic-based parties in Cameroon, ethnicity remains an important variable in the nation's political economy. That was evident in the 1992 multiparty legislative and presidential elections, where voters appear to have been influenced more by ethnic and/or regional loyalty or anticipated patronage and other pork-barrel benefits than by any clearly defined national agenda by the parties.