Elites and the Politics of Accountability in Africa PDF Download

Author: Wale Adebanwi
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472054813
Category : HISTORY
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
Studying elites through the framework of accountability

Author: Omololu Fagbadebo
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319935097
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This book examines the problem of accountability in two African political systems, South Africa and Nigeria. Despite the principle of separation of powers and the doctrine of checks and balances among the institutions of governance, a burgeoning governance crisis stifles the potential of accountability and good governance. Legislative oversight in the two countries remains largely ineffective while citizens are left to face the consequences of the mismanagement of public resources by political elites. This book critically assesses how the legislative institutions in South Africa and Nigeria have been unable to harness the requisite constitutional powers to ensure accountability in government and explores the feasibility of their effectiveness. The book begins with a comparative analysis of the principles, tradition, and powers associated with legislative capability in South Africa and Nigeria. The chapters explore constitutional provisions and analyze the capacity of each legislature to function within its respective political environment. The book also examines the process and challenges associated with the various measures and mechanisms available for legislatures to ensure accountability in the two countries. Researchers, scholars and students of African politics will find this book useful in their understanding of the problems associated with the simmering governance crisis in South Africa and Nigeria.

Author: Ulf Engel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351147900
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Governance has become an important concept in the politics of African development. It is therefore a crucial concept for social science analyses focusing on Africa. In public discourse Africa's future is being shaped by a combination of external interventions backed by African elites who cooperate with the donors, whose understanding of the importance of 'good governance' they share. This groundbreaking book disentangles the analytical aspects of governance from its political and normative connotations. The 'African exception' - the difference in 'development' between Africa and other regions of the South - can be understood by analysis focusing upon the specific forms of governance played out in politics and economics. The perspective of neo-patrimonialism is crucial but not sufficient here. The first section of the book explores African governance in two functional spheres: the political realm and the economic. Section two looks at new areas of governance in Africa: violent social spaces, HIV/AIDS and entrepreneurial urban governance.

Author: Carl Dahlström
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137556285
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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To a large extent, elite politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen hold the fortunes of their societies in their hands. This edited volume describes how formal and informal institutions affect elite behaviour, which in turn affects corruption and the quality of government.

Author: Said Adejumobi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131718405X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Africa has made notable progress in its nascent democracy but with uneven performance across countries. However, across the board, challenges abound. Central to Africa’s checkered democratic narrative is the weakness of its democratic institutions, participatory mechanisms and accountability platforms. This book interrogates these elements with the role and capacity of the parliament, political parties, media, freedom of information law, trade union movements, gender empowerment mechanisms and accountability methods and processes all under examination. The weakness of democratic institutions has had a corrosive effect on political accountability and limits the scope for popular participation in governance. In many countries, innovative practices, and new social and political encounters are emerging that challenge old institutional cultures, promote reforms and demand accountability from the governing elite. The book captures these varied, innovative patterns of democratic change. With first hand knowledge and expertise of the continent, the contributors analyze the issues, trends, problems and challenges in these critical areas of Africa’s democratic growth. The conclusion is that strengthening democratic institutions, opening up the political space for enhanced political participation and ensuring political accountability will determine the course, prospects and quality of Africa’s budding democracy.

Author: Danwood Mzikenge Chirwa
Publisher: United Nations Univ
ISBN: 9789280812053
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This book brings together a number of leading experts in the fields of public law, political science and democratization studies to identify ways of making African governments accountable and describe the extent to which these mechanisms work in practice. It presents new knowledge about legal and political developments in a number of African countries, relevant to the policy goal of developing and deepening democratic governance and accountable government on the continent. This book will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners in the fields of public law, public administration, political studies and African studies.

Author: Kenneth Kalu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351363719
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
This book spotlights, analyzes and explains varying forms and patterns of state-society relations on the African continent, taking as point of departure the complexities created by the emergence, proliferation and complicated interactions of so-called ‘big men’ across Africa's fifty-four states. The contributors interrogate the evolution of Africa’s big men; the role of the big men in Africa’s political and economic development; and the relationship between the state, the big men and the citizens. Throughout the chapters the contributors engage with a number of questions from different disciplinary and methodological orientations. How did these states evolve to exhibit various deformities in their composition, functioning and in their relations with the societies that they govern? What roles did Atlantic and other slavery and European colonialism play in creating states that are unable to display the right and good relationships with citizens in civil society? Why did these forms of predatory state-society relations continue to thrive in Africa after the end of Atlantic slave trade and subsequent colonialism? Why did the emerging African leaders at independence fail to effectively dismantle the structures of exploitation and expropriation that were the defining features of slavery and colonialism? Who are Africa’s ‘big men’, and what are their trajectories? This book is essential reading for all students and scholars of African politics, public policy and administration, political economy, and democratisation.

Author: Gabrielle Lynch
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 135162363X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 684

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Book Description
This volume explores the issues and debates surrounding the ongoing processes of democratization in sub-Saharan Africa, illuminating the central dynamics characterizing Africa’s democratic experiments, and considering the connections between democratization and economic, social, and cultural developments on the continent. Reflecting the diverse and rich nature of this field of study, the Handbook of Democratization in Africa features more than thirty contributions structured into six thematic sections: The politics and paths of regime development Institutional dynamics Political mobilization and voting dynamics The politics of identity Social forces from below The consequences of democracy. Chapters offer overviews of the key scholarship on particular topics, including central insights from the latest research, and provide suggestions for those interested in further inquiry. The material includes attention to broad cross-continental patterns, for example with respect to public opinion, political violence, or the role of different institutions and actors. It also includes rich case material, drawing on and highlighting the experiences of a diverse collection of countries. Encouraging a comprehensive view of key concerns and enhancing understanding of particular issues, the Handbook of Democratization in Africa represents a critical resource for experts and students of African politics, democratization, and African studies.

Author: Roger Tangri
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113504774X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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This book considers the causes of high-level state corruption as well as the political constraints of countering corruption in Africa. It examines elite corruption in government as well as in the political and military spheres of state activity, and focuses on illegal behaviour on the part of state and non-state actors in decision-making. Situating corruption and anti-corruption within a political framework, this book analyses the motivations, opportunities and relative autonomy of state elites to manipulate state decision-making for personal and political ends. Based on detailed case studies in Uganda, the authors focus on corruption in the privatization process, military procurement, foreign business bribery, illegal political funding, and electoral malpractice. The book examines why anti-corruption institutions and international donors have been constrained in confronting this executive abuse of power, and discusses the wider relevance of Uganda’s experience for understanding elite corruption and anti-corruption efforts in other African countries. The Politics of Elite Corruption in Africa will be of interest to students and scholars of African politics, African political economy, development studies, corruption and government.

Author: Muna Ndulo
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443885478
Category : Africa south of Sahara
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Revisiting the Study of Governance / Göran Hyden -- Democratisation in Africa : Achievements and Agenda / Mamoudou Gazibo -- The Expansion of Judicial Power in Africa and Democratic Consolidation : Opportunities, Challenges and Future Prospects / Charles M. Fombad -- Constitution-Making in Anglophone Africa : We the People? / Coel Kirkby and Christina Murray -- Measuring the Persuasive Effects of Electoral Campaigns in Africa / Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz -- Subnational Elections and Accountability : A Study of Political Decentralization and Democratic Governance / Rachel Beatty Riedl and J. Tyler Dickovick -- Slippery Citizenship : Nationalism, Democracy and the State in Africa / Jennifer Riggan -- Federal Developments and Accountable Government Structures in East Africa / Jan Amilcar Schmidt -- Hereditary Rule in Democratic Africa : Reconciling Citizens and Chiefs / Kate Baldwin -- Critical Reflections on Social Accountability and Local Government in Ghana / Cyril K. Daddieh -- "Emerging" Africa : Long-term Perspectives on Growth and Democracy / Antoinette Handley -- A Legal Framework for Combating Corruption : Case Study from Zambia / Muna Ndulo -- Two-and-a-Half Cheers for Democracy in Africa / Nicolas van de Walle.