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Council of Ministers, Fifth Ordinary Session, Accra, October 1965 ; The preambles to the UN Convention and the OAU Draft Convention relating to the status of refugees in Africa are not identical in content though similar in aim or spirit since that of the OAU Draft Convention had to be formulated in such a way as to conform with the requirements of the OAU and the African political atmosphere.

The adaptation of pol'al sci to the existing African pol'al situation is not easy since that situation is extremely complex. It is best to analyze this situation in depth & to view it in 3 diff forms: (1) under its traditional aspect which appears in a singular diversification of forms (societies whose pol'al aspects are joined to kinship groupings, those whose clan systems & lineages are the framework for pol'al life, those where other systems are the basis of pol'al action, & finally, those which exist as pol'al entities); (2) under its colonial aspect with its own peculiarities (the change in pol'al structure, the joining together of 2 admin'tions, the destruction of the traditional authorities, econ & cultural intervention); & (3) under its post-colonial aspect with its problems (the difficulties of integrating the pre-colonial past with the colonial past, the difficulty of adapting to modern pol'al & admin'tive life). In making use of ethnological & sociol'al studies, pol'al sci can effectively study 2 aspects of present day African politics: the pol'al parties & the pol'al doctrines or ideoloeies. Tr from IPSA by J. A. Broussard.

Military regimes and social classes in black Africa: a hypothesis, by Tatania Yannopoulos and Denis Martin
Examples from the history of the African States since their independence show that the purpose of military intervention in political life has been either to take the place of an emergent middle class which was weak and whose position in power was threatened, or to settle conflicts between ruling factions when the former were likely to endanger the existing power structure, or to act as a spearhead on behalf of the privileged classes ousted by progressive forces. From this standpoint, the case of reputedly progressive regimes established after military coups d'Etat poses a question; in fact, it would seem that these regimes are set up to replace leaders who are either too corrupt or are incapable of modernizing society. The circumstances surrounding their emergence thus prompt them to use language of a "progressive" nature, whereas their actual policies differ very little from those implemented by other military regimes. The hypothesis advanced here makes allowance for a certain number of factors operating inside Black Africa. It is deliberately confined to an examination of these factors, though it does not deny - on the contrary - the importance of the peripheral position of the continent, i.e. of all the outside forces which have intervened, and continue to intervene, in African politics.
[Revue française de science politique XXII (4), août 1972, pp. 847-882.]

Eh cherchant a definir une problematique generale des rapports entre les Deux Grandes Puissances et l'Afrique nous sommes partis d'une interrogation assez simple : Derriere l'apparence d'un interet cyclique pour ce continent les Etats Unis et l'Union Sovietique sont-ils parvenus A construire depuis 1960 une politi-que d'engagement graduel ?A partir de la nous avons essaye de comprendre comment ces deux pays pou-vaient s'inserer dans le jeu diplomatique africain tout en ajustant l'ampleur de leur engagement A leurs contraintes de puissances globales. Si l'on entend par jeu diplomatique l'ensemble du reseau des relations in-ternationales etablies par des Etats souverains, on constate qu'A la difference des autres regions du Tiers Monde le jeu diplomatique africain ne commenga serieu-sement a interesser les Deux Grands qu'au moment de la decolonisation c'est-a-dire a partir de 1960. Or a cette date l'equilibre global sovieto-americain ne de la II Guerre Mondiale etait tres largement stabilise. La question pour les Deux Grands etait alors de savoir de quelle fagon l'emer-gence de l'Afrique en tant qu'entite politique autonome pourrait affecter cet equi-libre. Pour comprendre le double processus par lequel les Deux Grands ont cherchea repondre aux attentes africaines tout en s'efforgant d'integrer l'Afrique au ca-dre global des rapports sovieto-americains, nous nous sommes efforces de repondretrois series d'interrogations : Deux Grands ?Quels ont ete les parametres retenus dans la formulation et l'expression des reponses diplomatico-strategiques.?Par rapport a quelles contraintes l'engagement sovieto.-americain a-t-il pu se trouver stimule ou au contraire entrave ? La definition.prealable des enjeux par les Deux Grands apparait essentielle car elle pose des le depart la question de savoir comment deux grandes puissances peuvent s'inserer dans un cadre regional domine jusque-lA par les puissances euro-peennes et sur lequel elles n'avaient que peu d'influence avant 1960. L'insertion des Deux Grands obeit-elle ...

A distinction is made between the concepts of evolue & elite. Evolue implies assimilation of French culture & is undiff'iated in practice from educ, while elites are diff'iated according to educ & the poi'al situation. An elite group has 4 characteristics: (1) it is distinct from the rest of society; (2) it has a preeminence that is recognized through deference; (3) this preeminence is general & (4) it can be imitated, ie, it exerts an indirect influence on soc behavior. Pol'al leaders in French black Africa passed through 2 types of Sch's: the formal one of the educ'al system imported from France & later on apprenticeship in pol'al practice, in France or in their native countries. French educ'al theories in Africa are discussed along with the goal of assimilation & the ambiguities to which it gave rise, as well as the pol'al practice. The latter part covers the administration's policy toward elites & the, relations between the new elites, the traditional elites & the masses. Next an examination of the educ'al system set up by France in the colonies discusses the structure of the system, the number of Sch's, types & levels of instruction & the Sch pop according to Sch's & geographical areas. Senegal is chosen for a more intensive examination. At the time of the departure of the colonial powers, 2 hierarchies confronted each other in the African countries. The ancient one, strong through its continuity & soc traditions, was challanged by the new popular leaders, who had been educated in European Sch's & who felt conscious of representing the masses, & in most cases, the new elites pushed the traditional ones into the background. In the former English & French colonies, the leadership is young, & while the old tribal elites threaten secession, the new leaders also face a threat from younger people who have graduated from U's after their nation's independence. Compared with them, the pre-independence elites appear conservative & satiated, their revolutionary aspirations satisfied. The fact that this development occurs in former colonies of France as well as English ones shows its generality. In most cases, this conflict is between classes rather than individuals. The new members of the new, younger groups resent their elders' rapid advance & are impatient to advance themselves. Thus the educ imported from Europe has brought about a development that lays bare the contradictions of the colonial situation. A. Peskin.

Until the 19th cent, Mohammedanism was perfectly suited to the needs of primitive African societies. The intrusion, along with Christianity, of a dynamic civilization in a closed static civilization, brought about the destruction of customary structures, & the Africa of today shows more & more the need of a universal religion which will allow the society to become reintegrated at a higher level than that of the ancient tribal & family groups. Christianity may appear to the Africans as a means of overcoming their technical backwardness, though at the same time it is frequently regarded to be an instrument of colonialism & of Western domination. Strictly speaking, Mohammedanism could replace Marxism (which has been accepted as an area of intellectual inquiry, but has been rejected as an ideology because of its European & atheistic attributes), if it did not; itself, tend to become an instrument of Arab, & especially of Egyptian, neo-colonialism As a result, it is not impossible that Africa will move in a 3rd direction, toward a pantribal, neo-paganism, which might be capable of giving rise to a kind of African national socialism. Such a development would be based upon racial rather than class struggle, & would present all the dangers of a totalitarian system that includes.both religion & politics at the same time. Tr by J. A. Broussard.

In spite of conditions of socio-economic and occupational traits similar to those of young French people belonging to the lower strata, second generation young North Africans display specific political attitudes and behavior. At the same age level and level of instruction, they show more political interest and commitment than their French-stock counterparts and are massively oriented to the left. While attachment to the Muslim religion persists, it is defined above all as a cultural and family heritage and appears weakly linked to politics. The role of French-North African girls is singular : their left-wing radicalization and political activism are even more manifest than those of boys, and they display less attachment to their cultural and family background.

The crisis of the african state.
In this paper which presents most of the themes of the author's last book, The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation, R. Sandbrook points out the importance of the State in the building of a capitalist economy. The author examines die functioning of african economies and notes the impossibility to accumulate. He describes the various types of political regimes and government. Various sources of legitimacy are then analyzed. The central feature of these systems is personal rule or «neopatrimonialism». The absence of a real bureaucracy leads to the failure of all state economies. Some states are fictitious, others are strong (as Ivory Coast or Kenya). The illegal and informal economy is destroying the state. Sandbrook outlines survival strategies for reform, against a liberal «all for the market» conception.