ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the politics of independent Niger have involved two fundamental processes: the breakdown of bureaucratic-authoritarian structures with the rise of preeminent personal rule and the periodic and largely unsuccessful efforts to mobilize political support. The first process has weakened the Nigerien state and greatly reduced its potential for promoting economic growth and development. The second process has been a reaction to the limitations of the first, a striving to overcome the limitations of personal rule by broadening popular participation. The regime immediately found itself pressured on two sides: by the French, whose intervention and on-going police work were critical to political victory, and by political opponents both inside the country and in exile. From the end of the Sawaba crisis in 1964 to approximately 1970, the Diori regime enjoyed a period of relative tranquillity and success both domestically and internationally.
