Landlocked in the heart of Africa with a population of just over eight million and a Gross Domestic Product of USD 700 , Burundi differentiates itself as a unique outlier among case studies of African democratic experiments. Its first attempt at a democratic transition in 1993 spiraled into a decade long bloodbath, though this latest stretch of warfare continues a history defined by cyclical violence. Often omitted from the history books, what Stephen Weissman calls “the first clear genocide since the Holocaust” ravaged this small central African state in 1972 – one of four uprising-and-repression cycles since Burundi’s independence. Delving into Burundi’s colonial history is critically important to understanding its failed democratic transition; it illuminates the precipitating causes that one may site as not conducive to democracy such as the structural factors of ethnic stratification and economic underdevelopment. However, as important as such factors were,......

Join Now to view the rest of this term paper!
Members: Login to view this research paper.

Title: A Collapsed Transition: Democratization In Burundi
Approximate Word Count: 3146
Approximate Pages: 13 (250 words per double-spaced page)

With the Term Papers Lab Membership Pass, you get instant access to every essay on this site, including this essay on A Collapsed Transition: Democratization In Burundi, for as long as you remain a member.

Other essays sites charge almost $100 for a single term paper. At Term Papers Lab, you can get instant access to over 100,000 research papers for as little as $29.95!