The Politico-Economic Reformation of Political Parties and its Effects on the Democratic Process in Cameroon: Challenges and Opportunities

The leading controversial idea that instigated us to study and research on the existing interaction between social mobilisations and politico-economic reforms that gave birth to political parties in Cameroon is as a result of it promotion and recommendation as a solution to politico-economic crisis by neoliberals. The logic here being an ushering of a double cornice into the Cameroonian political scene, obliging them to follow the same path in what Michel DOBRY calls “democratic and capitalist transition†or what Jennifer WIDNER calls “economic change and political liberalisation†into a case at hand like the Cameroonian political landscape confronted with managerial crisis and having proceeded with a centralised governing policy since her independence in the 1960s. Political parties are the life wire on which democracy thrives. Whether dictators or communist political systems, all political leaders want to identify with the democratic system of government in this 21th century. This article seeks to find answerers to the question on the usefulness of political parties in Cameroon and whether after more than two decades of democratic politics in Cameroon, parties have fulfilled the goals for which they were created? What has been the different political and economic reform that has help political parties have an impact on the democratic process of the Country? The use of a dualistic research model reveals that the relationship between social mobilisation and economic reforms (liberalisation) in Cameroon’s politics is characterised by what Arnold WOLFERS calls in his analytic and conceptual model “discord and collaboration†/ “antagonism and harmony†. The revelation concluding our findings settles on both compatibility and tensions between political and economic reforms of political parties. Hence, the expected political transformation and social relief is compromised and cannot be entirely guaranteed.