Closing the Circle Democratization and Development in Africa

About this book

It is a truism that many African countries face a three-pronged tribulation - political tyranny; failed capitalist development; and violent domestic conflict. What is less clear, Richard Sandbrook argues in this thoughtful reflection on African democracy and development, is what relationship may exist between effective democratic institutions and the solution of the last two problems. Drawing on a lifetime's study of African politics, he draws particularly on the experience with democratisation of a carefully selected sample of countries: Ghana, Mali and Niger in West Africa; Zambia, Tanzania and Madagascar in East Africa; and Sudan.

Contents

Part 1 Patterns and perspectives: from authoritarianism to democracy; democratization and deadly conflict; democratization, economic reform and the state; the future - democracy, development and globalization. Part 2 The real world of African democracy: elections - how free and fair?; party systems or factional systems?; civil and political rights - how protected?; the practice and promise of democratization. Part 3 Democratization and deadly conflict: the complex political emergency syndrome; deadly conflict in the Sudan; democratization as antidote; prognosis - uncertain. Part 4 Democratization and market reforms: governmental commitment to reform; building potential coalitions for neo-liberal reform; administrative capacity; adjustment and reform. Part 5 Democratization and state rehabilitation: the politics of economic decline and renewal; neo-patrimonialism resurgent - Rawlings as the new Nkrumah; democratization and macroeconomic performance; countermovement - liberal institutional reform; historical legacies and institutional change. Part 6 Closing the circle: the pragmatic neo-liberal strategy; a "social-democratic" globalization?.

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