Governing biometrics. Dynamics of Institutionalization of a Technopolitical Reform in Electoral Competition in Cameroon
Author: Yves Valéry Obame, obameyves@gmail.com
Department: Sociology
University: The University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon
Supervisor: Jean Nzhie Engono
Year of completion: 2022
Language of dissertation: French
Keywords:
Public action
, Biometrics
, Electoral governance
, Technopolitical reform
Areas of Research:
Political Sociology
, Participation, Organizational Democracy and Self-Management
, Sociotechnics, Sociological Practice
Abstract
During the 2010s, Cameroon, like many other African countries, turned to digital technologies to enhance the quality of its electoral systems. In 2013, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) — the body responsible for electoral and referendum matters since 2006 — introduced biometrics into elections for the first time. Manual procedures had long been criticized for undermining credibility. Since then, the implementation of biometrics, ostensibly signaling a new regulatory practice in political competition and intended to strengthen the credibility and quality of the electoral process (according to official discourse), has yet to fulfill its promises in Cameroon. Paradoxically, a closer examination reveals that despite the rollout of this public electoral policy — embedded in a social context increasingly governed by technology — its introduction into the Cameroonian electoral arena has exacerbated political tensions rather than alleviating them as intended. This research emerges from this paradox, seeking to understand the social dynamics shaping the implementation of biometrics in Cameroon’s electoral process.
Employing a hypothetico-inductive approach, this thesis argues that public action linked to biometrics in the electoral domain is structured by a dual polarity: the logic of institutional objectification and the dynamics of subjectification in the electoral game by diverse social actors. Consequently, this electoral policy becomes an extension of strategic social relations, fueling battles over the appropriation and subversion of biometrics within the electoral field. Ultimately, the thesis illuminates the socio-historical construction of electoral reforms and the novel forms of conflict generated by the integration of this political technology into the electoral arena. The findings demonstrate that the operational outcomes of electoral biometrics in Cameroon are explained by a combination of factors tied to the dynamics of biometric appropriation. In this context, the mobilization of actors’ capital orchestrates a configuration of action logics at the intersection of reappropriation, indigenization, and hybridization of a transnational public policy.
