ABSTRACT
Among the francophone African states that have recently undertaken democratic reforms, Congo appears to be one of the few that have gone some distance in consolidating their new democratic institutions. Congo's national conference was a prototypical example of the method of regime transition in francophone Africa. Unfortunately for Congo, the struggle for democracy was still only beginning when Pascal Lissouba took office in August 1992. The Congolese example certainly suggests that political reform is likely to be fraught with great challenges and that democracy can only be consolidated over time, if at all. Congo's revolution began with subdued rumblings for political reform during the first half of 1990. In the midst of the ethnoregional political traumas, only limited economic reforms have been undertaken in Congo. The mayoral elections of July 1994 proved to be the next step in Congo's ethnopolitical reconciliation.
