Suchergebnisse

Anthropologists, political scientists and sociologists have produced many excellent studies of political developments in modern Africa. Much, however, remains to be done; for work interpreting the meaning of modern African politics is barely under way. This essay seeks to contribute to that work. It analyzes African political thought and action in order to uncover the major premises that underlie African political phenomena, and it suggests that clarification of these premises is the necessary preliminary to an adequate theoretical interpretation of modern African politics.

1. Introduction: The theory and practice of democratic development -- Part 1. Legacies of the past. 2. Apartheid and its legacies -- 3. Liberation history -- Part 2. Negotiating South Africa's transition: laying the foundations. 4. Apartheid to democracy -- 5. The birth of a constitutional state -- 6. Transitional justice -- Part 3. Procedural democratisation in South Africa. 7. Elections, political parties and voting trends in South Africa's dominant party system -- 8. Civil society and civic participation -- Part 4. Substantive democratisation in South Africa. 9. Socio-economic contexts -- 10. Economic policy in post-apartheid South Africa -- 11. Political culture in South Africa -- Part 5. South Africa in the world. 12. South Africa in a complex regional, continental and global order -- 13. South Africa's 20 years of democracy and beyond

1. Introduction: The theory and practice of democratic development -- Part 1. Legacies of the past. 2. Apartheid and its legacies -- 3. Liberation history -- Part 2. Negotiating South Africa's transition: laying the foundations. 4. Apartheid to democracy -- 5. The birth of a constitutional state -- 6. Transitional justice -- Part 3. Procedural democratisation in South Africa. 7. Elections, political parties and voting trends in South Africa's dominant party system -- 8. Civil society and civic participation -- Part 4. Substantive democratisation in South Africa. 9. Socio-economic contexts -- 10. Economic policy in post-apartheid South Africa -- 11. Political culture in South Africa -- Part 5. South Africa in the world. 12. South Africa in a complex regional, continental and global order -- 13. South Africa's 20 years of democracy and beyond

Whatis 'essence' and what is 'appearance' in African politics? Does class or interest-group analysis describe and explain the various realities? These questions are unanswerable without an examination of the methods by which claims to correct understanding are made. All claims to knowledge are arbitrary until the methods of enquiry and the justification for their validity are made explicit.

The subject-matter of African politics has always presented a special challenge and a special problem to political scientists, namely to develop a theory which would make sense of a vast, inchoate, and unfamiliar body of material. This problem has become particularly acute in the last year or two. The rapid deterioration of African political parties, a series of military coups, recurrent crises of national unity, and heightened tendencies towards anomic and violent behaviour have not only cast doubt on previous assumptions as to the nature of African political life but have also led to a heightened mood of theoretical uncertainty among political scientists.

"Trust and Social Relations in African Politics" published on by Oxford University Press.

"Constitutions and Constitutional Reforms in African Politics" published on by Oxford University Press.

Political developments in Africa continue to manifest that disjuncture between progress and stalemate. There continues to be a co-existence between change and stasis in many areas of African society. This is a sort of static dynamism where great hope inspired such developments as citizens electing new governments in countries like Malawi and Zambia, only to encounter deliberating despair marked by the destruction of Somalia by a ravaging terror-linked and externally driven conflict in the form of drones and bombings, the stubborn growth of terror in Mozambique, terror in the Sahel deepening. The incidence of political corruption put into the spotlight by the South African commissioning probing the so-called state capture, and the extradition of a former Mozambican finance minister for trial in the U.S. adds the gloom that threatens to dim hopes.