Independence or a federation? Perceived discrimination as an antecedent of Anglophone Cameroonians’ attitude towards the form of state

Abstract

Since 2016, the Central African country of Cameroon has been experiencing the worst conflict and humanitarian crisis in its history over the systematic marginalization and discrimination of Anglophones and a change in the form of state. This study sets out to explore Anglophone’s perception of discrimination, their attitudes towards the form of state (federation and independence), and the extent to which the perception of discrimination predicts attitudes towards the form of state. In a sample of 314 Anglophones, results showed that attitudes towards the form of state were mixed as there was no significant difference between support for independence and support for a federation. In addition, results indicated that the perception of discrimination among Anglophones was significantly high. Lastly, while controlling for the effect of age, level of education, and economic status, the results showed that the perception of discrimination was significantly related to support for independence but not support for a federation. Implications and avenues for further research are discussed as well.