Resources
The Term Limits Initiative is please to offer several free resources available for download in both English and French. This page contains research on term limits, citizen advocacy tools, and case studies on citizen movements to support constitutional term limits. This page will be updated as new resources become available.
Click below to see what resources are available.
Advocacy Materials
Mobilizing and Advocating for Presidential Term Limits in Africa: Strategies and Approaches
English Version
French Version
This CSO advocacy guide was developed for activists designing strategies to mobilize public support for constitutional term limits. The guide delivers a targeted analysis of previous successful and unsuccessful citizen-led efforts across Africa to pressure regimes to respect constitutional term limits. The guide presents specific approaches, techniques, and strategies for conducting successful advocacy surrounding term limits. The guide also outlines strategies to protect activists from retaliation against such pro-democracy mobilization.
Research
Presidents of Africa, Life after Power!
English Version
French Version
This article serves as a resource for activists, scholars, and anyone interested in presidential term limits on how political leaders adapt to new roles after their time in power. The study applies qualitative and quantitative analysis from 20 countries across Central and West Africa to identify a typology of the roles of former heads of state after they leave office. The results break down post-presidential roles into "silent retirements," "active retirements," and "forced retirements," and investigates patterns of departure in whether presidents leave office by choice, by electoral defeat, or by force.
Case Studies
GUINEA
The National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC): A citizen's movement against an authoritarian regime
English Version
French Version
This case study provides a profile of one of Guinea's most influential pervasive citizen movements to oppose former President Alpha Condé's efforts to run for a third term in office. The National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution - FNDC) was established in April 2019 to oppose President Alpha Condé's maneuvers to secure a third term. The movement coalesced within the context of a deadlocked political environment, marked by both ethnicization and repression. The FNDC, a hybrid movement combining civil society and political parties, emerged from a specific ecosystem: the meeting of a new generation of Guinean civil society – particularly interested in the issue of "governance" and "rights," beyond a "technical" vision centered on "development" – with powerful opposition political parties, who alone were incapable of preventing Alpha Condé from changing the Constitution.