Governance and Democracy in Africa

This book looks at the fundamental issue of governance in Africa. After half a century of experimenting with democratic institutions, African countries are still ambivalent about the complete or absolute adoption of this form of governance. Africa lost tremendous human and natural resources in the struggle for political and economic independence. What form of governance African leaders adopt will determine how worthwhile this sacrifice has been to the African people. This issue is the major challenge facing Africa, and addressing it is of high urgency. Employing a political economy framework, this book provides some insights into to dealing with this complex issue of democratic governance in Africa.

Guseh and Oritsejafor have produced an innovative text that surveys African politics using a political economy approach.  Instead of focusing on how African political leaders have constructed various versions of 'failed states,' the authors bring an African perspective to the question of how states govern impoverished citizens while accumulating enormous wealth from the natural resources of the continent.  This study encompasses the continent as a whole, demonstrating that the economic dynamics of North Africa are not distinct from the sub-Saharan region.  The authors provide a quantitative analysis of African trade that reveals how the continent fits into the global capitalist system.  This analysis also demonstrates how transparent structures of power, and respect for human rights, contributes to “development” and reducing income inequalities. At a time when the most productive African states are the ones that generate the greatest inequality, this book invites a conversation about how Africans can manage state structures to redefine development for the benefit of the people of Africa as a whole., Governance and Democracy in Africa is an outstanding contribution to the scholarly literature on development studies and addresses some of the social, political and economic factors that are inhibiting democratic consolidation in Africa, providing a comprehensive overview of how these factors have contributed to regime changes on the continent. By providing case studies on democratic consolidation in South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria, and on continental framework that began with the Monrovia Plan, this book provides a continental and sub-regional response to the challenges of democratic consolidation and development in Africa.

James S. Guseh is professor of political economy, law, and public administration at North Carolina Central University.Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor is professor of political science at North Carolina Central University- Durham.