The State of Democracy in Post-Jammeh Gambia: Status, Prospects, and Challenges, 2017-2025

Abstract

The Gambia’s democratization process since 2017 has been evidently an understudied area. Thus, this novel empirical thesis attempts to contribute to the existing literature gap by providing an in-depth analysis of the state of democracy and governance post-dictatorship between the periods of 2017-2025. Since the end of Jammeh’s competitive autocratic regime, marking the beginning of democratic restoration under President Barrow, The Gambia’s democracy has been one marked with progress but also fundamentally confronted with challenges that continue to militate against its democratic consolidation. To understand The Gambia’s overall democratic transitional trajectory, this study employed both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, comprising surveys, interviews, and secondary data sources. Primarily, the thesis asked the following important questions: Has democracy improved in The Gambia post-dictatorship? If yes, how has democracy improved? To what extent has it improved? What are some of the obstacles confronting its democracy, and what opportunities lie ahead? The thesis, therefore, argues that although democracy in The Gambia has considerably improved since 2017, challenges persist, underscoring what my participants describe as “procedural” instead of “substantive” democracy. In a nutshell, the thesis major preoccupation is to empirically examine and understand the state of Gambia’s democratic dispensation.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Robert (Tanner) Bivens (Supervisor)