The president is elected by popular vote for up to two five-year terms and serves as both the chief of state and head of government. In 2021, Patrice Talon won reelection with 86 percent of the vote. The authorities had disqualified, arrested, or forced into exile the major opposition candidates, leaving only two opponents who posed no significant competition. Elected members of progovernment parties had veto power over which candidates qualified for the ballot, and some opposition parties boycotted the election. Security forces responded to peaceful protests with sometimes lethal means, leading to at least five deaths. Official turnout was 50 percent, a historic low for the country’s multiparty presidential contests; civil society groups estimated turnout at 26 percent. Observers described election day as “calm” and “orderly.”

Constitutional amendments created the largely ceremonial position of vice president in 2019. Mariam Chabi Talata, Talon’s running mate in 2021, became the first to hold the office.

Delegates to the 109-member, unicameral National Assembly serve four-year terms and are elected by proportional representation. In the January 2023 election, seven parties, including three opposition parties, contested the election, an improvement from 2019 when only two progovernment parties were allowed. The BR and the UPR won 81 seats. The remaining 28 were won by the main opposition party, the Democrats.

Opposition parties complained of fraud. Observers from the Economic Community of West African States called the contest calm. Unlike the 2019 election, there was no violence, nor were there internet-access restrictions. Official turnout was 37.8 percent, up from 27.1 percent in 2019 but well below the turnout of previous elections.

In 2021, the National Assembly adopted constitutional amendments, including provisions imposing three-term limits on legislators, expanding the body from 83 to 109 seats, and extending terms to five years beginning in 2026 to align them with those of the president.

Score Change: The score improved from 1 to 2 because opposition parties were permitted to participate in January’s legislative elections, which saw somewhat increased turnout.

Elections are conducted by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA), which has a five-year mandate and is dominated by Talon appointees and allies. Following the passage of a restrictive electoral law in 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that parties must obtain a “certificate of conformity” from the Interior Ministry. The disqualifications of opposition parties in the 2019 legislative and 2020 local elections empowered members of Talon’s party to disqualify all but two candidates for the 2021 presidential election, due to a 2019 amendment requiring presidential candidates to be endorsed by 10 percent of mayors and members of the National Assembly.

CENA initially disqualified two of the eight parties that sought to contest the January 2023 legislative elections, including the Democrats, who accused Beninese authorities of intentionally withholding tax documents in order to prevent its registration. The Constitutional Court intervened in a November 2022 decision. Three opposition parties, including the Democrats, ultimately qualified.

After multiparty elections were restored in 1991, Benin generally had a large number of active political parties. However, the 2018 electoral code established restrictive rules including an unusually high 10 percent national threshold and an onerous increase in obligatory financial deposits. Costs for presidential candidates were reduced in 2019, but other requirements were introduced, including the need for endorsements and a vice presidential candidate.

Opposition figures were arrested during the 2021 electoral period. Reckya Madougou—a prominent prodemocracy campaigner, former justice minister, and presidential candidate—was arrested before that election. The leader of a disqualified front of opposition parties, Joël Aïvo, was arrested shortly after those polls. Both remained imprisoned at the end of 2023.

All opposition parties were excluded from the 2019 parliamentary contest. Three opposition parties ultimately competed in the January 2023 parliamentary elections, along with four progovernment parties. Four parties failed to meet the 10 percent threshold during the January 2023 race, however, yielding them no seats in the National Assembly.

Talon’s defeat of Lionel Zinsou, former president Thomas Boni Yayi’s chosen successor in the 2016 election, marked Benin’s fourth presidential transfer of power between rival groups since 1991.

However, Talon’s government introduced significant obstacles to opposition parties and presidential candidates, and leading opposition figures have faced harassment and prosecution—several major opposition presidential candidates remain in exile or prison. The opposition was unable to contest the 2019 legislative elections, though opposition parties were able to campaign for the January 2023 election and one opposition party won seats.

Score Change: The score improved from 1 to 2 because opposition parties participated in the January legislative elections, one of which won seats in the National Assembly.

Politics have generally been free from military interference. The role of personal wealth in politics has increased in recent years, with higher campaign costs and clientelist structures boosting the careers of wealthier politicians. Talon developed his private businesses in part by financing the campaigns of Boni Yayi and other elites and then securing lucrative contracts. After becoming president, Talon allegedly attempted to bribe lawmakers while working to secure passage of constitutional amendments.

Women and minority groups are not legally excluded from political participation, but cultural factors limit women’s engagement. Some 24 National Assembly seats are reserved for women, and 28 won seats in January 2023. Benin’s first vice president, Mariam Chabi Talata, is a woman.

Benin has historically been divided between northern and southern ethnic groups, and political parties often rely on ethnic bases of support. Southern-born Talon selected most of his political appointees from the southern Gbe-speaking region. The 2019 election of Gbèhounou Louis Vlavonou, a southerner, as National Assembly president broke with a tradition where legislative leaders and chief executives come from different regions. Vlavonou was reelected to his post in February 2023. Vice President Talata is from the north.

The president and the legislature generally determine government policy. However, President Talon was not reelected in a free and fair contest. While an opposition party won seats in the January 2023 polls, the BR and UPR together hold a supermajority, enough to amend the constitution.

The government does not consistently implement policy throughout Benin. In many rural areas, the state struggles to deliver basic services, and citizens instead rely on local customary and religious leaders.

Corruption remains widespread. Corrupt officials rarely face prosecution, contributing to a culture of impunity. In 2020, the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANLC) was dissolved to be succeeded by the High Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (HCPC), which has the authority to refer corruption cases to court. The law establishing this office also removed aspects of public officials’ asset declaration requirements. A staff note published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June 2023 noted that the HCPC had not yet been operationalized.

The Court of Punishment of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (CRIET) was established in 2018 to prosecute corruption, drug trafficking, and terrorism cases, but critics claim it targets political opponents and journalists.

The 2015 Information and Communication Code provides for public access to government records. However, information deemed sensitive, including national security, trade, and judicial documents, remains restricted.

A law passed in 2020 repealed asset declaration provisions for presidential candidates and government officials, and a 2021 report indicates that the government deliberately concealed increasingly violent communal conflicts in the north from the public.

Constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression are somewhat respected, and print outlets have expressed a wide variety of viewpoints. However, media outlets have encountered scrutiny and restrictions under Talon. A 2017 digital media law allows for the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists for online content that is allegedly false or harasses individuals. Defamation remains a crime punishable by fines, and media outlets critical of the government have increasingly risked suspension.

Major television broadcasters have been shuttered by the High Authority for Audiovisual Media and Communication (HAAC) and remain so, despite court orders reversing those actions. In 2020, the HAAC banned all “unauthorized” online news outlets, suspending three outlets temporarily; others ignored the order. In August 2023, the HAAC suspended La Gazette du Golf, a media group that operates several outlets, over their coverage of the July coup d’état in Niger.

In December 2022, journalist Virgile Ahouansè was arrested after publishing a story on alleged extrajudicial executions by the police, with the CRIET imposing judicial restrictions on him. In June 2023, Ahouansè received a suspended prison sentence and a fine. In August, Nigerian journalist Damilola Ayeni was arrested in Pendjari National Park while gathering information on environmental conservation. Ayeni was held incommunicado for several days by police, who accused him of being a religious extremist, before being released without charge.

Religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed and generally respected in practice.

Academic freedom is largely respected.

There are no major restrictions on personal expression, and individuals generally are not subject to surveillance or reprisals when discussing political or other sensitive matters.

Freedom of assembly has traditionally been respected; permit and registration requirements for demonstrations are not always enforced. Security forces violently dispersed opposition protests before the election in 2021 by firing tear gas and live ammunition into the air, resulting in at least five civilian deaths. However, there were no reports of violent attacks on opposition gatherings during the 2023 electoral campaign.

Score Change: The score improved from 2 to 3 because, unlike in previous years, there were no reports of opposition protests being suppressed during the year’s electoral period.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including human rights groups, generally operate freely, but individual activists have been arrested in increasing numbers. Large numbers of political figures and activists were arrested leading up to and after the 2021 presidential election. NGOs were also affected by a recent regulation requiring them to reregister with the government and pay a significant fee. Beninese NGOs cannot bring cases to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights after the government announced its withdrawal from a relevant protocol in 2020.

Workers, except certain civil servants and public employees, have the right to form and join unions, and to bargain collectively, with some restrictions. Public employees in the defense, health, justice, and security sectors are barred from striking; workers in other sectors may strike for a maximum of 10 days per year. Workers in the hydrocarbon sector and at the port and airport in Cotonou prohibited from striking by the National Assembly in 2022.

Although the judiciary has demonstrated some independence, the courts are susceptible to corruption. Judges are not nominated or promoted transparently.

Judicial independence was undermined when President Talon’s personal lawyer, Joseph Djogbénou, was named Constitutional Court president in 2018. The court later issued a number of decisions favoring the government, intensifying concerns about its autonomy. A new Constitutional Court was appointed in June 2023 by Talon and pro-Talon parties in the legislature, with former justice minister Dorothé Sossa becoming its president.

The CRIET also lacks independence. Judges were appointed by decree in 2018, in lieu of a transparent confirmation process. A CRIET judge resigned and fled the country in 2021, reporting that the court was used to prosecute Talon’s political opponents.

Due process usually prevails in criminal and civil matters. However, judicial inefficiency, corruption, and a shortage of attorneys in the north inhibit the right to a fair trial. Lack of resources contributes to often lengthy pretrial detentions. Arbitrary arrests and detentions occasionally occur, sometimes with extreme sentencing, particularly in the CRIET.

During the 2021 presidential election period, reports suggest that large numbers of opposition leaders and activists were arrested by the authorities. Reckya Madougou was arrested and detained on spurious terrorism charges that year and, despite a lack of evidence, sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The population is somewhat free from war and other major physical threats, though the threat of terrorism continues to grow in the north. In a September 2023 research note, the Institute for Security Studies reported that the JNIM and the ISGS were responsible for an increase in terrorism in the north. In May, at least 15 civilians were killed and another 12 were kidnapped in the commune of Kérou by JNIM fighters. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) said that 182 attacks targeting Beninese civilians occurred in 2023, a 75 percent increase over incidents in 2022.

Prison conditions are harsh. Prisoners face overcrowding, lack of access to food and water, and occasional physical abuse. Police brutality remains a problem, including beatings and torture of suspects. Superiors often shield perpetrators from prosecution.

Score Change: The score declined from 3 to 2 due to attacks on civilians and violence in the northern regions of Benin.

Relations among Benin’s ethnic groups are generally amicable. Minority ethnic groups have typically been represented in government agencies, the civil service, and the armed forces. The constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, and disability, but not sexual orientation. The 1996 penal code imposes a higher age of consent for same-sex sexual activity (21) than for heterosexual activity (13). LGBT+ people face social stigma and discrimination in practice.

Women experience discrimination in employment and access to credit, health care, and education.

Individuals can generally move freely throughout Benin. However, in some rural areas, cultural traditions force women to remain indoors for extended periods.

Reforms to the business registration process, anticorruption efforts, and other regulatory changes since 2010 improved the business environment. However, property registration is difficult, and contract enforcement is inconsistent. Despite laws guaranteeing equal rights to inheritance for women, many women are denied the right to inherit property in practice.

Domestic violence remains a serious problem, and women are often reluctant to report domestic abuse. A 2003 law that prohibits female genital mutilation was somewhat effective in reducing its occurrence, though the challenge persists. Marriage for those under 18 years old is prohibited, though exceptions are allowed for 14- to 17-year-olds with parental consent. Child marriage and forced marriage remain common in rural areas. Medical certificates for prosecuting gender-based violence were made free via a 2021 law, eliminating a barrier to prosecuting those crimes.

Legal protections against forced labor and other exploitative working conditions are unevenly enforced. Poor conditions are prevalent in the large informal sector. Human trafficking is widespread, despite increased convictions for the crime in recent years. The practice of sending young girls to wealthy families to work as domestic servants has led to cases of exploitation and sexual slavery. Children are also exploited for agricultural labor and work in various trades.