June 19, 2025 The SSRC’s APN and Next Gen program-sponsored panel, “Defending Democracy in Africa: Challenges and Options,” which was held virtually as part of the 2025 Lagos Studies Association (LSA) Conference, featured five paper presentations. The first paper presentation by Hakeem Onapajo, panel Chair, titled “Weak Institutions and Democratic Backsliding in Africa: A Study of the ‘Third Wave of Military Coups’ in West Africa,” explored the recent coups in West Africa, noting that they had largely been approached from external and geopolitical perspectives. Drawing on an institutional approach, the presenter argued that institutional weaknesses, or the dysfunctional nature of …