Senegal - Politics, government, and taxation

Senegal is a democracy where people can vote in elections at age 18. They elect a president every 7 years as the head of state who, in turn, appoints a prime minister to head a government. The Council of Ministers, or cabinet, is appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president. The unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, has 140 members who serve a 5-year term. The judiciary has 3 parts: the Constitutional Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Council of State. The legal systems are based on French civil laws and are in need of strengthening as an institution. There is respect in both theory and practice for civil liberties, including freedom of speech, press, association, movement, and democratic electoral procedures. The military, on which the state spent US$68 million in 1997, includes an army, airforce, navy, and a national security police force that is non-political and highly professional.

Senegal is recognized as one of the most democratic and politically stable countries on the continent of Africa. Unlike many other African states, Senegal has never experienced revolution or a military coup, yet, as Frederic C. Schaffer argues in his book Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture , Senegal's democracy is imperfect. Since its independence, a single-party rule has dominated, and the government has been accused of being corrupt and authoritarian. Furthermore, discontent in the rural Casamance region has led to an ongoing internal rebellion by the Movement of Democratic Forces of the Casamance (MFDC). The MFDC represents forces in the Casamance who feel marginalized and neglected by government policies.

After Senegal gained independence in 1960, the Senegalese government was headed by the Socialist Party (PS) until the presidential elections of March 2000. The current president, Abdoulaye Wade, represents the Democratic Party, though the Socialist Party still dominates the National Assembly. The Senegalese Socialist Party promotes a mixed economy in which both the market and the state play significant roles, unlike other socialist parties in the developing world that adhere to the communist ideals of complete state control of the economy. Before the 1980s, the PS insisted on a much greater economic role for the state, but as the Senegalese economy has become more liberalized , support for state control has diminished.

The WB and the IMF have made demands on Senegal to liberalize its economy in return for loans they have granted since the 1980s. They argue that state controls in the economy have proved inefficient because of the inability of parastatals (state-owned enterprises) to compete internationally with their privately-owned foreign counterparts. Many such enterprises have been privatized , although the state still dominates the telecommunications, transport, mining, and electric power industries. The state remains the country's largest employer and consumer.

While the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) makes up the largest opposition party, there are many other political parties, 26 in all, representing ideologies across the political landscape. According to the U.S. State Department Country Commercial Guide , opposition parties are personality-driven, relying on the charisma of their leaders rather than concrete ideas. Most parties differ little from the ruling PS about economic matters.

Taxation is the chief source of government revenue. In 1997 92.8 percent of revenue came from taxes, broken down as follows: 28.1 percent from income and property tax, 36.7 from taxes on goods and services, 25.2 percent from import tax, and 9.1 percent from taxes on petroleum products. Personal income tax is progressive, meaning those who earn more money must pay a higher percentage of tax than those who make less money. There are 10 tax brackets, or categories of taxable income. Those who make less than 600,000 CFA francs are not obligated to pay income tax.

Because of economic contraction in the early 1990s, the inability of many firms to compete and survive in a freer market led to a shrinking tax base for the government. Government was forced to rely on strict revenue measures, such as heavy taxation on petroleum imports. According to the World Bank, this caused harmful results to companies that depend on petroleum imports, forcing many to close or join the informal economy .