DEPARTICIPATION IS THE PROCESS OF REDUCING POPULAR INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICS. IT IS THE MOST STRIKING FEATURE OF POSTINDEPENDENCE BLACK AFRICA. THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT WHETHER MILITRY OR CIVILIAN - SPEARHEADS POPULAR DEMOBILIZATION BY ELIMINATING MOST PARTICIPATORY STRUCTURES, REMOVING KEY INDIVIDUALS FROM POLITICS POLITICS, AND CANCELLING OF ELECTIONS.
Joel Barkan was an important figure in Africanist political science and one of the world's leading experts on East Africa. He died suddenly in January 2014 while on holiday in Mexico, aged seventy-two. At the time, he was still involved in myriad projects both academic and policy oriented, his energies undimmed. In addition to contributing to the literature on African politics, Barkan was a passionate friend of Africa, inspiring students on all sides of the Atlantic to study the continent. Following his death, a headline in the best selling Kenyan newspaper, The Daily Nation, read "In Memory of Joel Barkan: A Scholar Who Believed in Kenya's Greatness." This ASR Forum explores the lasting legacy of his wide-ranging work on a number of countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, and a broad range of political institutions and phenomena. The articles contained in this forum demonstrate the continued significance of Barkan's work and its important implications for how we study elections, legislatures and development around the world, not just in Africa.
