The ECOWAS parliament as a tool for conflict prevention in West Africa
This thesis seeks to examine the effectiveness of the ECOWAS Parliament in conflict prevention in West Africa. From a holistic perspective, it also discusses the emergence of regional parliaments and specifically analyses their contribution to conflict prevention. This thesis is the first to assess how the ECOWAS Parliament attempts to prevent conflict in West Africa and how effective this has been. It presents the argument that, bodies such as the ECOWAS-P which are mandated as the legislative organs in a region otherwise noted for protracted conflicts play a crucial role in preventing conflict. The study employed participant observation (specifically in the ECOWAS-P), case study methods, elite interviews, parliamentary and archival research. The thesis greatest contribution lie in undertaking an institutionalist approach to conflict prevention and drawing from public administration developed and applied a performance management tool to help assess how the ECOWAs-P has succeeded at this task. It finds that with no provision made for the parliament in the regional conflict prevention mechanism, it has had to employ normative initiatives to be relevant in conflict prevention. The research exposes that the lack of a universal suffrage mode of election of EMPs emphasises its democratic deficit. The thesis concludes that, the ECOWAS-P as a new institution provided under the revised treaty of 1993 is increasingly gaining more responsibility as a body for conflict prevention and prospectively the enhancement of its powers by the draft supplementary act passed in December 2014 will help it in making binding laws.
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