African Politics in Comparative Perspective

• Main Author: Hyden, Goran
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: New York Cambridge University Press 2006
• Edition: 2
• Subjects: 1960; Africa; Agriculture; Comparative government; Comparative politics; Development; Ethnicity; Gender; Government; Political history; Political science; Politics and government; Regions
• ISBN: 1107030471; 9781107030473; 1107651417; 9781107651418
• DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511791079

This revised and expanded second edition reviews fifty years of research on politics in Africa. The book synthesizes insights from different scholarly approaches and offers an original interpretation of the knowledge accumulated in the field, keeping in mind the changes since the first edition was w...

Table of Contents:

• Cover -- African Politics in Comparative Perspective, Second Edition -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- ADDITION TO THE SECOND EDITION -- 1 The Study of Politics and Africa -- HOW POLITICAL SCIENTISTS DO THEIR SCIENCE -- WHY AFRICA MATTERS TODAY -- Studying Africa -- AFRICA'S GEOGRAPHY -- AFRICA'S HISTORY -- AFRICA'S ECONOMY -- POLITICAL FACTS ABOUT AFRICA -- ORGANIZATION OF THIS VOLUME -- CONCLUSIONS -- 2 The Supremacy of Politics -- THE RISE AND PRACTICE OF POLITICAL SUPREMACY -- The Party State -- The Development State -- The Efficient State -- The Democratic State -- THE LIBERATION MOVEMENTS -- RENEWAL OF THE MOVEMENT IDEA -- MOVEMENTS IN PERSPECTIVE -- STRUCTURAL FACTORS -- Modernization Revisited -- THE ABSENCE OF A PUBLIC SPHERE -- CONCLUSION -- 3 The Problematic State -- COMMUNITY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE -- THE STATE IN THEORY AND PRACTICE -- State and Class -- State and Society -- State and Bureaucracy -- STATES AND POWER IN AFRICA -- CONCLUSION -- 4 The Economy of Affection -- THE ECONOMY OF AFFECTION -- Definition -- Illustations -- INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS IN PERSPECTIVE -- Types of Informal Institutions -- Formal and Informal Institutions -- ECONOMY OF AFFECTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICA -- THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES -- CONCLUSION -- 5 Big Man Rule -- THE FOCUS ON PERSONAL RULE -- THEORIZING PERSONAL RULE -- REINING IN THE BIG MAN -- The Period of Opportunism -- The Period of Realism -- CONCLUSION -- 6 The Policy Paradox -- PLANNING, SELF-HELP, AND DEVELOPMENT -- THE WE-MUST-RUN STRATEGY -- Main Features -- Implications -- The Demise -- POLICY REFORMS -- Getting Prices Right -- Reforming the State -- CONCLUSION -- 7 The Agrarian Question -- THE CHANGES IN AFRICA'S RURAL AREAS -- A Comparative Note -- The Colonial Period -- The Statist Years -- The Market Reform Years -- REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN AGRICULTURE
• Concerns of the Policy Community -- Foreign Land Acquisitions -- Conflicts over Land -- Outstanding Issues -- CONCLUSION -- 8 The Gender Issue -- THE DEMOGRAPHIC DIMENSION -- Kinship Structures and Women -- Marriage by Alliance rather than Descent -- THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION -- THE SOCIOLOGICAL DIMENSION -- WOMEN IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC LIFE -- Women in Politics -- Women in Public Life -- CONCLUSION -- 9 The Ethnic Factor -- BACKGROUND -- DEFINITIONS -- CONFLICTS AND CONFLICT PATTERNS -- CAUSES OF CONFLICT -- Ethnicity as Causal Variable -- Structural Explanations -- Enthnopolitical Explanations -- CONCLUSION -- 10 The External Dimension -- THE ECONOMIC DEPENDENCY -- Structures of Dependence -- Influence of Capitalism -- Consequences of Incorporation -- The New Political Economy -- Africa and Globalization -- THE POLITICAL DEPENDENCY -- Changes in Foreign Aid -- Impact of Foreign Aid -- CONCLUSION -- 11 What We know and How -- HOW DO WE ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE? -- WHAT IS THE ACCUMULATED WISDOM? -- Ten Points of Agreement -- Africa's Untamed Politics: A Summary Statement -- Implications for Research -- Contextuality and Comparability -- HOW IS KNOWLEDGE BEING APPLIED? -- CONCLUSION -- 12 Quo Vadis Africa? -- POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA -- Africa Is Best Off Left Alone -- Make the World Serve Africa's Needs -- No Choice bu the Neoliberal Paradigm -- THE PROBLEMATIC ROLE OF DONORS -- A POLITICAL SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH TO REFORM -- The Need for a Policy Government -- Shared Control of Public Funds -- CONCLUDING REFLECTION -- References -- Index