Suchergebnisse

Bureaucrats perceive politics bureaucratically. They would wish it to be an orderly process. Therefore, when officers of "new" or "developing" nations take power, they seek to legitimize the administrative state. Their model is bureaucracy, but government and administration are found to be very different from the model. Organization does not meet all problems; neither does the issuance of "the right orders." The goals of administration cannot be achieved without the active compliance of much of the population. What is more, compliance must be active: passive acceptance alone is not enough.

Thisarticle has as its theme the organisation of an African urban revolt in South Africa from 1960 to 1965. Reference is made mainly to events in Port Elizabeth and its near neighbour, East London; it need hardly be added that there were similar developments in other parts of the country. The way in which the revolt was organised was little reported at the time, and the details emerged only in the verbatim court records of the trials of both leaders and followers. Press reports of these trials are scattered over a number of South African newspapers, whose reporting—while good—is not as detailed as the documents; and a few items appear in the overseas press. The importance of this revolt, which is still being waged from outside South Africa's borders, might justify an analysis of what took place in the country itself, even if the research on which it is based remains incomplete.

Are the military coups that have shaken Africa recently simply a working-out of personal animosities, are they due to chance, or are they the result of something inherent in the very nature of present-day African political systems? It is to questions such as these that this article is addressed, and to which it seeks to provide tentative answers. Further, if, as will be argued here, the African coups result from something inherently systemic, what conclusions can be drawn at present about Africa's future political development?

Race relations have become one of the most sensitive of international issues. They have been transformed from the domestic concern of single countries to a matter of world concern. The story of this transformation is almost too well-known for comment. It grew from a massive revulsion against fascist racialism, the decline of white dominance, the emergence of new states from colonial empires, and the growing dependence of developed countries on the raw materials of the less developed. The United Nations Organisation has, in addition, given the non-white majority a forum from which they can condemn countries maintaining racial stratification. It is clear, therefore, that a breakdown in racial prejudice would not only ease some world tensions, but is a desirable end in itself.