African Democracies and African Politics

by M. A. Mohamed Salih

Overview

An eloquent, accessible and above all, ambitious study of democracy across the continent of Africa' - The European Journal of Developmental Research 'This well-informed study starts from the premise that Western-style democracy has never been appropriate in Africa and is unlikely to catch on anytime soon' - Foreign Affairs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745317243
Publisher:	Pluto Press
Publication date:	10/20/2001
Series:	Ossrea Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.46(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

M. A. Mohamed Salih is Professor of Politics of Development at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague and the Department of Political Science, University of Leiden. He is the author of Environmental Planning, Policies and Politics in Eastern and Southern Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 1999), Environmental Politics and Liberation in Contemporary Africa (Springer, 1999), Local Environmental Change and Society in Africa (Springer, 2000), African Democracies and African Politics (Pluto, 2001), African Pastoralism (Pluto, 2001) and African Political Parties (Pluto, 2003).

Table of Contents

Preface
Maps
1 Introduction
2 Ethnicity in Quasi-Polyarchies
3 Harnessing Authoritarian Development
4 The Democratic Potential of Democratic Education
5 An Authoritarian Circus: Sudan from NIF to
6 Multi-Party Democracy
7 Sierra Leone: Democratising Anarchy
8 Nigeria: Democracy, Ethnicity and Faith
9 Southern African Democracies and
10 South Africa's Resilience
11 Minorities in First-Past-the Post
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"'An eloquent, accessible and above all, ambitious study of democracy across the continent of Africa'" – The European Journal of Developmental Research

"'This well-informed study starts from the premise that Western-style democracy has never been appropriate in Africa and is unlikely to catch on anytime soon'" – Foreign Affairs

From the Publisher

This well-informed study starts from the premise that Western-style democracy has never been appropriate in Africa and is unlikely to catch on any time soon, despite concerted efforts by international donors and lenders to force it on reluctant African leaders through strings attached to aid. The author, an African scholar teaching in the Netherlands, makes a case instead for positively reconsidering ethnicity as a political organizing principle, pointing to the current Ethiopian experiment with ethnic federation as a promising model. It is a notable attempt to bring a fresh African perspective to the continent's politics.

Foreign Affairs

This series of essays on democracy and politics in Africa focuses on factors that affect the feasibility of the democratization process in African states in general, but with specific reference to Ethiopia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and several states in southern Africa. While (there is an excellent resume of theories and factors affecting the process, Salih's main emphasis is in the role and deprivations of ethnic or religious minorities that not only serve to weaken governments but also lead to anarchy and civil strife .Although these factors vary from one state to the next, they create all-too-familiar patterns of political responses that hinder democracy and are often so irreconcilable that they tend to minimize development of the nation-state. Recommended for lower- and upper-division undergraduates.

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