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Serious internal obstacles also block adequate realization of civil and political rights in Africa. The colonial legacy, rising popular expectations for a better life, subversion from abroad and the absence of strong national cohesion will engender political instability in African political systems that give free rein to the exercise of civil and political rights. Moreover, even if one assumes a democratic political system would be viable politically, that system may succumb to demands for increased consumption rather than promote adequate investment in infrastructure. In either event, democratic political systems will tend to be unstable, with the result that economic development will not be achieved and civil and political rights will not adequately be observed. Thus, according some absolute priority to either economic rights or civil and political rights is not a desirable objective in Africa. The former is likely to remain an empty promise, while the latter, even if viable, may not lead to economic progress. The paradoxical nature of this conclusion compels a view of the problem from the following perspective. First, although both sets of rights are important, civil and political rights are the means by which economic rights can be enforced in the African context. Although full observance of civil and political rights is not practicable at present, no alternative exists to making a distinction among African regimes based both on the degree to which they violate these rights and the prospects that violations will diminish. In broad terms, the distinction: suggested is between those totalitarian regimes of the right and left which do not give meaningful recognition to civil and political rights and those pragmatic authoritarian regimes in Africa which accept civil and political rights but do not observe them adequately. Neither revolution nor economic centralization are strategies likely to resolve constructively the development and rights dilemmas currently facing most of Africa. One step toward overcoming ...

AbstractThe article examines the issue of priority setting in Third World agricultural research organizations, for those research sectors and topics which—mainly because of the difficulty of quantifying benefits—are outside the domain of economic surplus and benefit/cost techniques. The issue is redefined as one of processing ill‐structured decisions, i.e., decisions in which there is no unique, identifiable, objectively optimal solution. The implications of this for the concept of rational action in this field are explored, and the results used to define a practical approach. This centres on a radical review of the possible options and criteria in priority setting, using four techniques (challenge groups, repertory grid, creativity techniques and flow charting). The final section of the article examines the decision‐making aspects of these techniques in three priority‐setting contexts of increasing difficulty: within a department, where the issue is essentially one of technical choice between competing research lines; within a major institute or research sector, where there is substantial competition for resources; and in an institute or sector which is facing a crisis of resources or relevance. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Finds that Australians see economic development as one element of overall national and personal well-being, based on survey data from the 1999-2002 World Values Survey (WVS); includes comparisons with various countries.