Longman’s Perspectives from Pre-Genocide Rwanda
Timothy Longman’s review essay in Political Science Quarterly provides fresh insights into the nature of authoritarian rule, challenging common perceptions of such regimes as inherently stable. The essay, titled “The Weakness of Authoritarian Regimes: Rwanda as a Difficult But Convincing Case,” examines Marie-Eve Desrosiers’ book “Trajectories of Authoritarianism in Rwanda: Elusive Control before the Genocide.”
Timothy Longman, Professor of International Relations and Political Science and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, uses Rwanda’s First and Second Republics (1962-1994) as a case study to illustrate the complex and often precarious nature of authoritarian governance. The analysis reveals how these regimes constantly adjusted their strategies to maintain control, a phenomenon Desrosiers terms “authoritarian trajectories.”
The essay explores various methods employed by the Kayibanda and Habyarimana regimes to secure power. These included organizing political parties, developing regime ideologies, and using propaganda. Longman emphasizes that these regimes relied not just on coercion but also on building legitimacy and non-coercive tools to maintain control.
A key aspect of the review is its focus on how power was exercised at the local level. Longman discusses Desrosiers’ findings that local officials often had considerable latitude in exercising their authority, sometimes moderating the central government’s authoritarian goals. This micro-level analysis offers valuable insights into the practical implementation of authoritarian rule.
The review also sheds light on how this understanding of pre-genocide authoritarianism in Rwanda helps explain the eventual turn to genocide as a strategy. Longman argues that the inherent weakness of these authoritarian regimes partly explains why authorities resorted to such extreme measures.
Longman writes, “While a regime able effectively to carry out genocide may seem incontrovertibly strong, such a violent strategy grew in fact out of efforts to reassert authority in a context of major internal and external challenges.” This observation highlights the paradoxical nature of authoritarian violence as a sign of weakness rather than strength.
The essay contributes both to our understanding of Rwanda’s history and to broader insights into authoritarian governance. By highlighting the fragility and adaptability of such regimes, Longman’s analysis provides valuable lessons for scholars and policymakers grappling with authoritarianism in various global contexts. It can be accessed in full here.
Professor Timothy Longman‘s current research focuses on state-society relations in Africa, looking particularly at human rights, transitional justice, democratization, civil society, the politics of race and ethnicity, religion and politics, and women and politics. He has published two books based on his research in Rwanda: Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (Cambridge University Press 2011), and Memory and Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda (Cambridge University Press 2017). Read more about Professor Longman on his faculty profile.