A recent survey of 36 African countries revealed that though citizens support democracy, a slim majority is willing to endorse a military coup if elected leaders abuse their power. As a number of West African nations grapple with this dilemma, some wonder whether longtime Cameroonian leader Paul Biya might face the same fate.

The Afrobarometer survey of 36 African countries found that two thirds of people – 66 percent – say they want democracy, while 67 percent disapprove of military rule.

But 53 percent would support a military coup if they felt elected leaders abused their power.

Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon have all recently witnessed military coups seemingly supported by the people.

Tim Zajontz, a lecturer in international relations at Dresden University of Technology in Germany and researcher at the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University, says the fact that most of these coups are happening in French-speaking African nations suggests that French colonial influence and its neo-colonial policies have made democratic change harder to come by.

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“In West and Central Africa we have seen similar developments and a kind of domino effect whereby segments of the armed forces turned against the civilian leadership, in some cases with significant popular backing,” Zajontz told RFI.

“Russian interference has surely contributed to this domino effect.

“The neo-colonial entanglements which the French government has maintained since the formal independence of these countries have certainly contributed to the weak consolidation and legitimacy of democratic state institutions in this part of Africa.”