After twenty years the third-wave of democratization took place in Africa, democratic regressions have proven a common outcome. Causes are well rooted in the key actors’ attitudes towards the rules of the electoral competition. Stabilization of power reflects the institutionalization of authority, which increases to the extent that political elites are able to ensure legitimacy through their conducts. Prior experiences and professional paths are thus crucial, since their heritage contributes to model preferences of present political actors. Ghana and Benin were both successful in establishing working multiparty institutions across the 1990s. On the basis of an analysis of political personnel, I argue these countries were capable to install a viable multiparty competition by virtue of the "institutional-oriented" strategies that political elites deployed across the transition. The return of “certain” former politicians and political parties shaped the politics reducing the uncertainty of competition, factor that has reinforced the institutionalization of power.
