Suchergebnisse

Corruption in Africa makes a significant contribution to the study of the impacts and eradication of corruption in African societies. John Mukum Mbaku offers a comprehensive analysis of the causes of public malfeasance in African countries and provides a number of practical and effective policy options for change

Africa's struggle against mass poverty and deprivation is examined using a constitutional political economy approach. It is argued that the failure of many African countries to deal effectively with poverty is due to the fact that since independence, these countries have not been able to engage in democratic constitution making to provide themselves with institutional arrangements that guarantee the rule of law. Such institutions must adequately constrain civil servants and political elites, enhance peaceful coexistence, and provide an enabling environment for the creation of wealth. The process to reconstruct and reconstitute African states has been on going since decolonization. The Arab awakening, which began in North Africa, and the pro-democracy demonstrations of the mid-1980s and early-1990s, are a continuation of this effort to secure the laws and institutions that enhance the creation of wealth and provide an enabling environment for the eventual eradication of poverty. Unless the African countries provide themselves with institutional arrangements that guarantee the rule of law, poverty will remain pervasive.

The study critiques the development literature's neglect of the role played by institutions in development, with special emphasis on corruption cleanups. Such neglect is especially problematic in view of the fact that corruption is a major constraint to wealth creation and economic growth in Africa. The policy limitations of traditional development models with respect to corruption can be remedied by incorporating insights from the theory of public choice into the design and execution of new anti-corruption programs. Such insights include the introduction of new and more relevant rules, reform of existing laws and institutions, provision of more effective and relevant incentive structures, and enforcement mechanisms to reduce the profitability of opportunism.

ABSTRACT

Cameroon's stalled transition to democracy is examined. It is argued that most of Cameroon's present political and economic problems can be traced to non-democratic constitutionalism at independence. Elite-driven, top-down, non-participatory constitutionalism left the country with institutional arrangements that discouraged entrepreneurship but enhanced political opportunism (e.g., rent seeking and corruption). In addition, it is shown that the inability of the country's main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF), to successfully lead the country's transformation has been due to many factors. Some of them include poor and fractured leadership, political miscalculations, rivalry within the party and between the party and other opposition parties, Biya's political acumen, and strong French support for the incumbent government. The most important first step toward successful institutionalization of democracy is state reconstruction through people-driven, participatory and inclusive constitution making. Unless such a process is undertaken, Cameroon will not be able to provide itself with the enabling environment to deepen, consolidate and institutionalize democracy, as well as deal effectively with pressing issues such as the desire by the Anglophone minority for greater levels of political and economic autonomy.

After more than three decades of independence, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have not yet developed stable political systems. Since the 1960s, when African countries began to achieve independence, many of them have encountered significant levels of institutional instability. In recent years, political violence has emerged as the most common method of governmental change. In this study, the effects of political violence on economic and human development in Sub-Saharan Africa are examined. It is seen that political instability is a significant constraint to the improvement of the human condition in the region.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Tables -- List of contributors -- About the African Studies and Research Forum -- Acknowledgments -- 1 General introduction -- 2 Where is the third wave? A critical evaluation of Africa's non-transition to democracy -- 3 Structural adjustment programs and democratization in Africa: the case of Mauritania -- 4 Bureaucratic corruption and the crisis of political reforms in Africa -- 5 National conferences and democratization in Francophone Africa -- 6 Nigeria: how to derail a transition program -- 7 State collapse and democratic construction: prospects for Liberia -- 8 Women and political participation in Kenya: evaluating the interplay of gender, ethnicity, class and state -- 9 Democracy and democratization in Cameroon: living with the dual heritage -- 10 How not to consolidate a democracy: the experience of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in Zambia -- 11 South Africa's first democratic elections and their political context -- 12 Beyond Mobutu: the opposition and the struggle for democracy in Zaire -- 13 Assessing the future of democracy in Africa: internal and external challenges