The Social Dominance Theory’s Hypothesis of Subordinates’ Participation in Maintaining the Status Quo: An Examination based on Peaceocracy in African Competitive Authoritarianisms
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65826/IJPCR.1.3.2026.62Keywords:
Peaceocracy, Social Dominance Theory, Systematic Terror, Felt Systematic Terror, African Competitive Authoritarianisms.Abstract
In African competitive authoritarianisms, peaceocracy, or the (supposed) reign of peace, consists, for the incumbents, of instrumentalizing the narrative of safeguarding peace, stability, and order to legitimize authoritarian practices likely to push citizens to give up their civil and political freedoms in favour of a “negative peace”, under an atmosphere of widespread fear of violence that inhibits dissent. The specialized literature, relatively recent and little documented, reports that peaceocracy, which is not the subject of an autonomous theorization, is analysed in various theoretical frameworks emerging from peace, African or colonial studies. From an innovative psychosocial perspective, this study apprehends it as a mechanism aimed at legitimizing elites’ use of coercive tactics to maintain the political status quo (status boundary reinforcement hypothesis). This research orientation, which theorizes “peace” as a means of political domination through official terror, allows the present study to put into debate the questionable hypothesis of subordinates’ participation in the intergroup cooperative game which maintains the status quo, as defended by social dominance theory.
References
Abend, G. (2008). The meaning of ‘Theory’. Sociological Theory, 26(2), 173-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2008.00324.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9558.2008.00324.x
Angelo, A. (2021). Cheeseman, Nic et Fischer Jonathan (2019), Authoritarian Africa: Repression, Resistance, and the Power of Ideas, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 144 p. Revue d’Histoire Contemporaine de l’Afrique, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.51185/journals/rhca.2021.e482 DOI: https://doi.org/10.51185/journals/rhca.2021.e482
APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2018). Fear. https://dictionary.apa.org/fear
Arendt, H. (1973). The origins of totalitarianism. A Harvest Book.
Arregui Olivera, C. A., & Cheruiyot, D. (2023). The risks of peace: Exploring the relationship between peaceocracy and journalism in Kenya. The International Communication Gazette, 85(8), 663-677. https://doi.org/10.1177/17480485231214365 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17480485231214365
Assiene Bissossoli, P. H., & Loumou Mondoleba, A.-P. (2025). Ce que « vouloir voir ses enfants grandir » veut dire pour les jeunes investis dans le champ politique camerounais post-autoritaire. Global Africa, 11, 204-216. https://doi.org/10.57832/w7fy-8p09
Bamnjo, Y. H. (2026). Assessing the role of president paul biya of cameroon in conflict management: The case of his end of year speeches from 2016 to 2020. International Journal of Peace and Conflict Research, 1(2), 75-88. https://doi.org/10.65826/IJPCR.1.2.2026.32 DOI: https://doi.org/10.65826/IJPCR.1.2.2026.32
Bjuremalm, M. (2022). Peace - what is it good for? Analyzing the 2017 Kenyan elections using the theory of peaceocracy. [Master’s Thesis in Global Studies]. Lund University
Blackman, A. D., Lotito, N. J., Nugent, E. R., & Tavana, D. L. (2024). All in the family? Political socialization and legacies of repression (Working paper). https://osf.io/ad2u5/download/?format=pdf
Branch, A. (2014). The violence of peace: Ethnojustice in Northern Uganda. Development and Change, 45(3), 608-630. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12094 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12094
Burgoon, J. K., & Dunbar, N. E. (2000). An interactionist perspective on dominance-submission: Interpersonal dominance as a dynamic, situationally contingent social skill. Communication Monographs, 67(1), 96-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750009376497 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750009376497
Cheeseman, N., Fisher, J., & Mwambari, D. (2024). Authoritarianism in Sub-Saharan Africa. In A. Wolf (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of authoritarian politics. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198871996.013.14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198871996.013.14
Cheeseman, N., Lynch, G., & Willis, J. (2014). Democracy and its discontents: Understanding Kenya’s 2013 elections. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 8(1), 2-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2013.874105 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2013.874105
Chow, R. M., Lowery, B. S., & Hogan, C. M. (2013). Appeasement: Whites’ strategic support for Affirmative Action. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(3), 332-345. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212475224 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212475224
Cross, C. (2021). Dissent as cybercrime: Social media, security and development in Tanzania. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 15(3), 442-463. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2021.1952797 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2021.1952797
Dzuetso Mouafo, A. V., Taffo Nemboué, W., Messanga, G. A. (2023). When perceived official terror drives people out of politics: A systemic analysis of political alienation in the context of authoritarian democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 12(6), 88-98. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20231206.11
Edel, M., & Josua, M. (2018). How authoritarian rulers seek to legitimize repression: Framing mass killings in Egypt and Uzbekistan. Democratization, 25(5), 882-900. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2018.1439021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2018.1439021
Elder, C. (2021). Somaliland’s authoritarian turn: Oligarchic-corporate power and the political economy of de facto states. International Affairs, 97(6), 1749-1765. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiab174 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiab174
Galtung, J. (1967). Theories of peace: A synthetic approach to peace thinking. https://www.transcend.org/files/Galtung_Book_unpub_Theories_of_Peace_-_A_Synthetic_Approach_to_Peace_Thinking_1967.pdf
Gerschewski, J. (2013). The three pillars of stability: Legitimation, repression, and co-optation in autocratic regimes. Democratization, 20(1), 13-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2013.738860 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2013.738860
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Quintin Hoare and Geofrey Nowell Smith.
Grauvogel, J., & von Soest, C. (2024). Legitimacy and legitimation strategies in authoritarian regimes. In A. Wolf (ed.), The oxford handbook of authoritarian politics. Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198871996.013.55 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198871996.013.55
Gündüz Arabaci, Ç. (2025). The contestation of the sensible under populist authoritarianism: between silencing and seeking democratic rights. Frontiers in Political Science, 7, 1648488. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1648488 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1648488
Hassan, M., Mattingly, D., & Nugent, E. R. (2022). Political control. Annual Review of Political Science, 25, 155-174. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-013321 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-013321
Jacquemot, P. (2019). Les élections en Afrique, marché de dupes ou apprentissage de la démocratie? Revue Internationale et Stratégique, 114, 52-64. https://doi.org/10.3917/ris.114.0052 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/ris.114.0052
Jacquemot, P. (2022). Afrique: La démocratie à l’épreuve. Fondation Jean-Jaurès éditions/Éditions de l’Aube.
Jenkins, S. (2020). The politics of fear and the securitization of African elections. Democratization, 27(5), 836-853. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1742112 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1742112
Jeong, H. Y., Vollhardt, J. R., & Twali, M. S. (2025). Power and resistance: Black Americans' multifaceted perceptions of ingroup strengths and their effects on collective efficacy and resistance. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64, e12904. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12904 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12904
Keltner, D. (1995). Signs of appeasement: Evidence for the distinct displays of embarrassment, amusement, and shame. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 441–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.3.441 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.3.441
Kim, N. K. (2017). Anti-regime Uprisings and the Emergence of Electoral Authoritarianism. Political Research Quarterly, 70(1), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912916675739 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912916675739
Konow, J. (2014). Coercion and consent. Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 170(1), 49-74. https://doi.org/10.1628/093245614X13871984731086 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1628/093245614X13871984731086
Kovacs, E. (2014). L’oppresseur et l’opprimé: Les images liées à la peur dans le discours politique de Diderot. In F. Salaün (Ed.), Le langage politique de Diderot (pp. 76-91). Hermann. https://doi.org/10.3917/herm.salau.2014.01 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/herm.salau.2014.01.0076
Lawler, P. (2008). Peace studies. In P. D. Williams (Ed.), Security studies: An introduction (pp. 73-88). Routledge.
Lefort-Rieu, C. (2024). Peacemaking in an authoritarian context in Africa: Promoting peace from below in Cameroon. African Affairs, 123(490), 103-123. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adae004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adae004
Leonard, D. K. (2009). Elections and conflict resolution in Africa. https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/ElectionsandconflictresolutioninAfricaarticle.pdf
Lynch, G. (2020). The rise of 'peaceocracy’ in Africa. In N. Cheeseman (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics. Oxford research encyclopedia of politics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.740 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.740
Lynch, G., Cheeseman, N., & Willis, J. (2019). From peace campaigns to peaceocracy: Elections, order and authority in Africa. African Affairs, 184(473), 603-627. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adz019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adz019
Médard, J.-F. (1991). Autoritarismes et démocraties en Afrique noire. Politique Africaine, 43, 92-104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/polaf.1991.5499
Messanga, G. A., & Ekango Nzekaih, H. K. (2022). When society deteriorates: Political intolerance, perceived anomic threat and participation in anti-system collective actions in the context of authoritarian democracy. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20221103.14
Messanga, G. A., Ekango Nzekaih, H. K., Taffo Nemboue, W., Npiane Ngongueu, S., Nzeuta Lontio, S., Fotso Magne, P., & Yoh Fopa, D. B. (2024). “They should take care of themselves, we have our own problems!”: The challenges of sympathetic resistance in multi-ethnic authoritarian contexts. In F. Bou Zeineddine & J. R. Vollhardt (Eds.), Resistance to repression and Violence: Global psychological perspectives (pp. 304-324). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197687703.003.0015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197687703.003.0015
Messanga, G. A., Fotso Magne, P., & Taffo Nemboué, W. (2020). Adhésion aux théories conspirationnistes et soutien aux politiques répressives à l’égard des libertés politiques en contexte de démocratie autoritaire : Le Cas du Cameroun. European Scientific Journal, 16(26), 51-73. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2020.v16n26p51 DOI: https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2020.v16n26p51
Messanga, G. A., & Taffo Nemboué, W. (2025). Revisiting the analysis of the use of systematic terror from the theoretical perspective of social dominance: Concept, limits and theoretical proposition. European Review of Social Psychology, 1-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2025.2525003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2025.2525003
Milewski, T. M., Lee, W., Champagne, F. A., & Curley, J. P. (2022). Behavioural and physiological plasticity in social hierarchies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 377, 20200443. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0443 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0443
Mix, T. (2014). Lethal repression of peaceful protest in Africa. Why do (non-) accountable and military regimes shoot. https://www.ibei.org/ibei_studentpaper15_71932.pdf
Montesquieu, C .D. S. (1748). De l’esprit des lois. Barrillot & Fils.
Morse, Y. L. (2018). Electoral authoritarianism and weak states in Africa: The role of parties versus presidents in Tanzania and Cameroon. International Political Science Review, 39(1), 114-129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512117692322 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512117692322
Mowoundo, A. (2018-2019). La métaphore dans les titres de la presse écrite camerounaise: Le cas de Cameroon Tribune et de Mutations (Mémoire de D.I.P.E.S. II). Université de Yaoundé 1. https://dicames.online/jspui/bitstream/20.500.12177/4755/1/ENS_20_0322.pdf
Ndawana, E. (2026). Political insecurity and citizens’ responses in contemporary Zimbabwe. Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, 60(1), 117-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2025.2580618 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2025.2580618
Ngcayisa, L. (2021). Developmental authoritarianism in Africa: The cases of Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda. Journal of Central and Eastern European African Studies, 1(3), 93-118. https://doi.org/10.59569/jceeas.2021.1.3.31 DOI: https://doi.org/10.59569/jceeas.2021.1.3.31
Nhamirre, B. J. F. (2025). Rigging by the state apparatus: Systemic electoral fraud in Mozambique jeopardizes the credibility of democracy and creates room for political violence. Frontiers in Political Science, 7, 1479440. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1479440 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2025.1479440
Pastory, P., & Makulilo, A. (2024). Guardians or disrupters? Peace discourses and politics in Tanzania. Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, 58, 443-464. https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2024.2328692 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00083968.2024.2328692
Pearlman, W. (2016). Narratives of fear in Syria. Perspectives on Politics, 14(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592715003205 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592715003205
Pratto, F. (2026). Social dominance orientation. Advances in Political Psychology, 47(1), e70126. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70126 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.70126
Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., & Levin, S. (2006). Social dominance theory and the dynamics of intergroup relations: Taking stock and looking forward. European Review of Social Psychology, 17, 271-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463280601055772 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10463280601055772
Provost, M. (2023). L’expérience de l’oppression: Une phénoménologie du sexisme et du racisme. Presses Universitaires de France.
Rivers, J. J., & Josephs, R. A. (2010). Dominance and health: The role of social rank in physiology and illness. In A. Guinote & T. K. Vescio (Eds.), The social psychology of power (pp. 87-112). The Guilford Press.
Schedler, A. (2010). Transition from electoral authoritarianism. https://cide.repositorioinstitucional.mx/jspui/bitstream/1011/327/1/000102958_documento.pdf
Shah, S. (2015). Free and fair? Citizens’ assessments of the 2013 general election in Kenya. Review of African Political Economy, 42(143), 44-61. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2014.995162 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2014.995162
Sidanius, J. (1993). The psychology of group conflict and the dynamics of oppression: A social dominance perspective. In S. Iyengar & W. McGuire (Eds.), Explorations in political psychology (pp. 183-219). Duke University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822396697-009
Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. Cambridge University press. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1017/CBO9781139175043 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139175043
Sidanius, J., Pratto, F., van Laar, C., & Levin, S. (2004). Social dominance theory: Its agenda and method. Political Psychology, 25(6), 845-880. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00401.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00401.x
Stafford, J. (2025, November 28). Study highlights rise of ‘authoritarian peacemaking’ and its implications for Ukraine. https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/authoritarian-peacemaking-and-its-implications-for-ukraine/
Svolik, M. W. (2012). The politics of authoritarian rule. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139176040 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139176040
Tesi, A., Aiello, A., & Pratto, F. (2023). How people higher on social dominance orientation deal with hierarchy-attenuating institutions: The person-environment (mis)fit perspective in the grammar of hierarchies. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues, 42(30), 26721-26734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03627-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03627-5
Thomsen, L., Green, E. G., & Sidanius, J. (2008). We will hunt them down: How social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism fuel ethnic persecution of immigrants in fundamentally different ways. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1455-1464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.06.011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.06.011
Tibbett, E. A., Pardo-Sanchez, J., & Weise, C. (2022). The establishment and maintenance of dominance hierarchies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 377, 20200450. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0450 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0450
Turner, J. C., & Reynolds, K. J. (2003). Why social dominance theory has been falsified. British Journal of Social Psychology, 42(2), 199-206. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466603322127184 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1348/014466603322127184
Villa, D. (2008). Political violence and terror: Arendtian reflections. Ethics & Global Politics, 1(3), 97-113. https://doi.org/10.3402/egp.v1i3.1861 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/egp.v1i3.1861
Westermayr, A. J. (1915). The psychology of fear. The Open Court, 4, 250-255. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/ocj/vol1915/iss4/5
Williams, T. K. (2012). Understanding internalized oppression: A theoretical conceptualization of internalized subordination (Doctoral dissertation in Education). University of Massachusetts Amherst. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/a437495d-3676-4a33-82cb-f51471730db9/content
Yavuz, M. (2024). Ideology as a legitimation tool for authoritarian regimes: Quantitative evidence from Turkey and beyond (Doctoral dissertation in Political Science). Central European University. https://openresearch.ceu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/c7f87907-9387-4204-b975-d322889e8e90/content
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Gustave Adolphe MESSANGA, Willy TAFFO NEMBOUE, Monique Pélagie TSOGO À BEBOURAKA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
