Africa's Steady Steps Toward Democracy DAKAR, Senegal - After 50 years of independence, the path to democracy does not follow an obvious, straight line in this region, just as it did not in the West - the model for most citizens here - where it was centuries in the making. That is the most obvious lesson from the sharply contrasting experiences of two West African nations over the past week: Senegal, where power is being transferred peacefully after a fair election on Sunday, and Mali, where after two decades of relative success, democracy was snuffed out in a military coup on Thursday. Across the region, democracy, even amid setbacks, seemed to inch forward. In Niger and in Guinea, military rulers gave up power to the people over the last 18 months, while any subsequent encroachments were vigorously resisted. In Ivory Coast, a power grab provoked a citizen uprising, later amplified by foreign firepower. In Liberia, a losing opposition candidate cried foul last fall after an election widely seen as credible, hoping that citizens would follow him, but few did. And in Nigeria, even the chaotic and bloody election of last spring is celebrated as an improvement. What remained constant is both the aspiration and the discernment of the people. The ordinary citizens wanted a voice, and seemed to know - even in the most depressed slums of Conakry, Niamey, Bamako or Dakar - that democracy was the best way to get it. Once glimpsed, democracy was vigorously fought for; once achieved, it was jealously guarded. African countries that had seemed immobile in relation to the Arab Spring in the Middle East were bubbling, just beneath or sometimes above the surface. Even the coup leaders in Mali felt obliged to repeat that they would soon call elections, though there was skepticism that they would do so. And Mali notwithstanding, coups are in steady decline from their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s. On Monday, a thousand citizens turned out in Bamako, the capital of Mali, calling for a return to democracy. And international condemnation of the coup was swift. In Washington, the Obama administration announced that it was suspending its nonhumanitarian aid to Mali and urged the leaders of what it termed "a mutiny" to return the country to civilian rule. "We want to see the elected government restored as quickly as possible so that we can get to the elections, which are scheduled to go forward shortly," said the State Department's spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke by telephone with President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, who is leading efforts to negotiate a settlement in Mali. Ms. Nuland said American officials were also in discussion with the coup's leader, Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo. The ousted president, Amadou Toumani Touré, was believed to be safely in hiding with loyalists, Ms. Nuland said. "This is an unacceptable situation, where democracy is being undermined in Africa, and it's got to be restored," Ms. Nuland said. Meanwhile, the cheering crowds that packed downtown Dakar, the Senegalese capital, late Sunday night were celebrating not so much the victory of the winner, Macky Sall, as the upholding of an ideal that appeared threatened by the maneuverings of the incumbent, President Abdoulaye Wade. "The defeat of Wade," Le Quotidien, a daily newspaper in Dakar, wrote on its front page Monday, "has transformed itself into a victory for the people, and for Senegalese democracy." Over the course of several years, a slow boil of resentment against Mr. Wade built. He was blamed for installing his son in positions of power, with an eye to a possible takeover; for trying to change the constitution to make re-election easier; and for seeking a third term when Senegalese law limits the president to two. What the country achieved over 50 years - a chief executive with some accountability at the ballot box - appeared to be under assault. In the streets here was a sense of offense. The president was breaking the rules. "We put him in power, and we had hope," said Lamine Diop, who was waiting to vote in the first round last month. But he's tried to force things, and that's it. He added, looking at the long lines of voters, "We've never seen this kind of mobilization before." Mr. Wade, with his limousines and his grandiose projects, was seen as setting himself above the people who had put him in office. "Abdoulaye Wade was living in an ivory tower," Le Quotidien wrote on Monday. He had lost all sense of the reality being lived by his fellow citizens. Three times over the last 10 months, the Senegalese pushed back against Mr. Wade. First, there was a large-scale demonstration in Dakar in June that forced him to retreat on his constitutional changes; next came voting in which he finished with a humiliating 34 percent of the vote, after months of boasting that he would easily win a first-round knockout; and Sunday, he suffered what appeared to be a crushing defeat in the runoff at the hands of Mr. Sall, his former prime minister. "A victory on the order of a plebiscite," Mr. Sall said early Monday, savoring its scale. Senegal, with its long tradition of voting and respect for the rules, was often seen as an exception on the continent. Having experienced the satisfactions of democracy, citizens here were more fervent in its defense. Senegal's democracy has hardly functioned perfectly. A one-party state for a sizable portion of its history, the country's rubber-stamp Parliament and weak judiciary offer no checks on the powerful executive. Still, the emotional attachment of the Senegalese to the democratic ideal can be found even in some of the continent's most oppressed spots. In Equatorial Guinea, for example, where the same dictator has ruled for more than three decades, courageous citizens can be found whispering their longings for the ballot box. The Senegalese know what the people of Mali have rediscovered, that democracy must be arduously built and fiercely protected. Otherwise, it is as close to extinction as an autocrat's pen or a junior officer's gun barrel. Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Washington.