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Political Parties and Coup Cycles in Sudan: A Historical Institutionalist Analysis
Mohamed Salaheldin Mohamed Ahmed
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DOI:10.17265/2328-2134/2026.02.003
Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
This paper examines the
relationship between Sudanese political parties and recurring military coups
between 1953 and 1989. Using historical institutionalism, it argues that
Sudan’s repeated democratic breakdowns were not simply the result of military
ambition or temporary political crises, but were rooted in long-term
institutional weaknesses within party politics. Weak party
institutionalization, sectarian competition, unstable coalition
governments, and unresolved civil-military imbalance repeatedly undermined
democratic consolidation. Through a comparative analysis of Sudan’s three
democratic experiments, the paper shows how civilian fragmentation and
ineffective governance strengthened the military’s role as a political
arbitrator. Concepts such as path dependence and critical junctures help
explain why similar patterns of democratic fragility reappeared across
different historical periods. The study contributes to debates on
democratization, civil-military relations, and institutional development in
postcolonial states by offering a historically grounded explanation of Sudan’s
coup cycles.
Sudan political parties,
military coups, historical institutionalism, civil-military relations, party
institutionalization
Mohamed Salaheldin Mohamed Ahmed. (2026). Political Parties and Coup Cycles in Sudan: A Historical Institutionalist Analysis. International Relations and Diplomacy, Mar.-Apr. 2026, Vol. 14, No. 2, 84-93.
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