The Limits of Resistance Ideologies? The CNDD-FDD and the Legacies of Governance in Burundi

Abstract

Why is it that ruling parties with origins as rebel movements fighting against perceived injustices and exclusion often abandon the ideas and visions of state transformation that they had articulated when they were fighting? Using the case of the Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie–Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie (CNDD-FDD) in Burundi, this article shows that rather than experiencing an abrupt ideological change when the CNDD-FDD became a ruling party, there had always been ideological divergence within the movement. Over time, progressive ideas of inclusive state transformation were repeatedly sidelined in favour of a focus on resistance, and then state capture. Paradoxically, then, once it became a ruling party the CNDD-FDD reverted to governance practices that were akin to those that had led it to take up arms in the first place. This is not because of an absence of commitment to progressive ideas among some CNDD-FDD members, but because the internal dynamics of the CNDD-FDD meant that those factions relying on power politics eventually gained the upper hand over those that articulated a more progressive, inclusive vision, due in part to their ability to back their ideas with force.

Transforming State Visions: Ideology and Ideas in Armed Groups Turned Political Parties – Introduction to Special Issue

“…For instance, Ntagahoraho Burihabwa and Devon E.A. Curtis (2019) show that the Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie-Forces de Défense de la Démocratie (CNDD-FDD) rebel movement in Burundi has its origins in the systematic exclusion of the Hutu in postindependence political, economic and military structures. In the Western Saharan conflict, Wilson (2019) shows how Polisario expressed ideas of governance rooted in direct, participatory democracy, whereby refugees would take part in grassroots participatory forums and where 'committees of the people' (mainly staffed by women during the conflict) would run public services.…”

“…The ubiquity of Marxist-Leninist ideas has led some authors to discount these ideological pronouncements and see them as a reflection of opportunism and international alliances. Burihabwa and Curtis (2019) show, for instance, that the Marxist-Leninist ideas that once animated the CNDD-FDD in Burundi were largely abandoned. In other cases former rebel parties have sought to maintain revolutionary ideas, for instance the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF) ideology of revolutionary democracy in Ethiopia explained by Lovise Aalen (2019), and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front’s (FMLN), continued commitment to a socialist revolution in El Salvador as part of an ‘ideological composite’ described by Ralph Sprenkels (2019).…”

“…Usually, scholars will analyse the political vocabulary of a movement as a sign of its identity and beliefs. This includes the study of political manifestos, programmes, and/or declarations and political speeches (Berti 2019; Burihabwa and Curtis 2019; Sindre 2019, all in this issue; Aalen 2019; Pearce 2018; Reyntjens 2016; Straus 2015), the analysis of party name changes (Ishiyama 2019) or interviews with group leaders and/or members (Özçelik 2019; Pearce 2018). Scholars also study the discourses through which ideology is both constituted and spread.…”

“…In other cases, different factions of the armed group may express different ideological preferences, and part of the struggle is fought between different movement factions. Internal divisions within the group have an impact on ideological content, as described by Berti (2019), Burihabwa and Curtis (2019), Sprenkels (2019) and Aalen (2019). Relatedly, some ideas are malleable and others are more fixed.…”

Ambivalent Moderation: The FMLN’s Ideological Accommodation to Post-War Politics in El Salvador

“…And third, pre-existing political structures and practices – e.g. clientelism and nepotism – might constrain the transformational potential of rebels as electoral newcomers (Burihabwa and Curtis 2019; Sprenkels 2018a).…”