Diverging Paths of Regime Change: Electoralist and Participatory Reforms

Abstract

Transnational human rights groups reframed the international image of East African governments during the 1970s and 1980s. Uganda’s Amin and Obote in his second term as well as Kenya’s Moi after 1985 all faced significant principled international challenges to their domestic rule. The mobilization created, empowered, and protected domestic allies in support of human rights. Although responses by the UN and donor governments were slow and ineffective, the targeted governments did not simply ignore the challenge but were vulnerable to the published information and sought to counteract the efforts to de-legitimize their rule. This pressure played a crucial role in bringing about democratic reforms in both nations.