COUPS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE MAGHREB – BETWEEN THE HUNGER FOR POWER AND THE QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY / LES COUPS D’ETAT ET LES MOUVEMENTS SOCIAUX DANS L’ESPACE MAGHREBIN – ENTRE LA SOIF DE POUVOIR ET LA QUETE DE DEMOCRATIE

Abstract

In any society, change and political renewal are more than necessary for a good and healthy governance. However, political alternation remains rare in Africa, particularly in French-speaking countries, fact that turned this region, at the beginning of the 2000s, into one of old, authoritarian or semi-democratic regimes not willing to give up the power. This article will focus on the types of actions (coups, revolutions, riots) that have challenged these regimes since the independence of the countries until now. We will analyze the context in which these actions emerged and the way in which they are more or less skillfully managed by the regimes.