LES DYNAMIQUES D'ANCRAGE DU PLURALISME PARTISAN AU CAMEROUN (1990 - 2006) L'économie des rapports entre pouvoir et opposition

Multi-party System bas always been considered as a major impediment to national intégration or political intégration in a plural society as Cameroon. According to tbe ruling elite and many otbers one-party-system tbeorists, partisan of developmental and structuralfunctional approacbes relatively call in question today, compétition between many political parties will certainly lead to tribalism and will compromise tbe idéal of national unity. Based on constructivism and individual metbodology, tbe aim of our dissertation is to evaluate the dynamics of tbe consolidation of multi-party System in Cameroon witb empbasis on the relations between tbe govemment and tbe opposition. Tbe central question driving our work is tbe foliowing: Is a strong multi-party System automatically a tbreat to national intégration? In otber words, at wbicb extend compétition between many political parties, tbat controlling tbe govemment and tbose in tbe opposition can constitute a major obstacle to tbe realization of national unity? Tbe principal bypotbesis guiding tbe researcb is tbat of tire dialectic between confrontation and coopération, wbicb cbaracterizes tbe dynamics of tbe consolidation of multi-party politics in Cameroon. Tbe nature of tbe democratization process and tbe plural cbaracter of tbe society détermine tbis ambiguity, wbicb is not an obstacle to democracy and intégration. Our fmdings are botb tbeoretical and empirical. At tbe tbeoretical level, we observed tbat multi-party system is a socio-political construction as a resuit of buman activity.
Contrary to tbe widespread perception, etbnic pluralism constitutes a fertile ground to tbe consolidation of multi-party. politics due to botb communitarian/kinsbip and rational votes. Tbe dynamic reconfiguration of tbe socio-political order is tbe resuit of tbe combination of individual political party action and sbadow motivations as well as tbe vitality of coalition politics. At tbe empirical level, we observed tbat multi-party system could be suitable to a plural society. Tbi'ougb tbeir compétitions, wbicb take différent forms, confrontation and coopération, tbe govemment and tbe opposition reinforce tbe process of political intégration. Tbe use of etbnic différences or cleavages as political resources by politicians bas contributed to tbe intégration into tbe political system of groups tbat bad previously been left ont. Tbis gives tbe groups botb a pragmatic and psycbological stake in presenting tbeir demands or supporting tbe overall political system. Political intégration as well as democracy in a
pluralistic society as Cameroon is a crossbred constmction. Tbe advent of a dominant party is not synonymous to single dominance party. A dominant party at tbe level of national institutions can be a minority party at tbe local level as it is tbe case of CPDM in some localities. Our tbesis is tbat multi-party system can constitute a factor of national intégration in case of peaceful relations between govemment and opposition.