Transnational strategies of legitimation in the 1990s: the Togolese regime and its exiled opposition in Ghana

After a failed transition to democracy in the 1990s in Togo, the opposition took refuge in Ghana, outside of the regime’s reach. Why and how did the regime react to transnational dissent? Analyzing an unpublished RPT-produced press-review and the opposition press in Ghana and Togo, this article argues that the Togolese regime used the foreign press, the language of legality and the politics of belonging to consolidate itself and shape a public image of apparent legitimacy. It suggests that the skillful adaptation of legitimation narratives is key in understanding the “internal logic” of authoritarian regimes and their prospects of survival.