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Resource curse theory claims that resource abundance encourages violent conflict. A study of 37 oil-producing developing countries, however, reveals that oil states with very high levels of oil revenue are remarkably stable. An analysis of the ways in which governments spend oil revenues identifies two distinct types of rentier systems - the large-scale distributive state and the patronage-based system - which are strongly linked to instability or its absence. However, some deviant cases, such as Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, illustrate the need for further research. Apparently, the notion of a "paradox of plenty" has neglected rentier mechanisms that avoid conflict. -- Resource Curse ; Paradox of Plenty ; Oil ; Rentier State ; Violent Conflict ; Political Stability ; Developing World

Natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from a bad reputation. Oil and diamonds, particularly, have been blamed for a number of Africa's illnesses such as poverty, corruption, dictatorship and war. This paper outlines the different areas and transmission channels of how this so-called "resource curse" is said to materialize. By assessing empirical evidence on sub-Saharan Africa it concludes that the resource curse theory fails to sufficiently explain why and how several countries have not or only partly been affected by the "curse". Theoretically, the paper argues that whether or not natural resources are detrimental to a country's socio-economic and political development depends on a number of contextual variables, divided into country-specific conditions and resource-specific conditions (type, degree/level of abundance and dependence, resource revenue management, involved companies etc.). Methodologically, a future research agenda needs to examine the complex interplay of these contextual variables by adding sophisticated comparative research designs, especially "small and medium N" comparisons, to the tool box which has been widely confined to the juxtaposition of "large N" and country case studies.

Klappentext: Die Erfolgsbedingungen von Demokratie im subsaharischen Afrika der 90er Jahre werden durch ein Differenzverfahren im Rahmen der vergleichenden Methode mittels der Gegenüberstellung von Demokratiefällen und Autoritarismusfällen untersucht. Begriffliche Grundlage ist ein von Robert A. Dahl abgeleitetes Konzept der "dauerhaften Demokratie". An den konzeptgeleitet ausgewählten sechs Erfolgsfällen (u. a. Botswana, Namibia) und sieben Misserfolgsfällen (u. a. Burundi, Sudan) werden systematisch Variablen geprüft, die aufgrund der Diskussion diverser demokratieätiologischer Ansätze als Kausalfaktoren in Frage kommen. Die Erfolgsbedingungen für Demokratie in Afrika sind demnach insbesondere im moderaten und verantwortlichen Handeln der Eliten, friedlichen interethnischen Beziehungen, einer erhöhten sozioökonomischen Entwicklung sowie einem prodemokratischen Gewaltmonopol (u. a. Loyalität des Militärs; Abwesenheit organisierter Aufstände) zu suchen. Aufgrund der Unwägbarkeit von Akteursverhalten und von länderspezifischen Sonderbedingungen entsteht insgesamt aber ein komplexes Kausalgefüge strukturierter Kontingenz.

This article takes stock of the state of African Studies and argues that (1) research on Africa is strongly dominated by outside, non-African, mostly Western views; (2) there is a tendency towards undifferentiated views on "Africa," which usually concentrate on negative aspects, overlooking progress in many areas; (3) methodologies that focus on causal identification are rarely used; and (4) the field focuses on micro-perspectives while few works examine the big picture and the longue durée. The article then argues that Comparative African Studies, which builds upon the concept of Comparative Area Studies, can address some of these challenges. A pronouncedly comparative perspective would help to systematically combine and contrast "outside" and "inside" perspectives in order to better identify causal relationships and general trends both within Africa and between Africa and other regions. Consequently, African Studies requires more resources and should more effectively engage in multi-disciplinary and mixed-methods research.

"Party Systems in Africa" published on by Oxford University Press.