Section: Unit 2. Governance issues in Africa | IR3112: African Union and Issues in African Security and Development | University of Rwanda

Section outline

This unit explores issues of Authority and Legitimacy in African Sates, Coercion: military interventions in African politics; and Sovereignty versus external influence on African politics (neocolonialism, structural adjustment) and Democratic consolidation in Africa, and the role of the civil society.

Intended learning outcomes

At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

Explain authority and Legitimacy issues in African governance

Describe Coercion (through Military intervention) in African politics

Analyse Sovereignty versus external influence on African politics and challenges to democratic consolidation in Africa

After going through the provided material and get supplementary information from chap. 6-11 of the book "Introduction to African Politics", you may do e-tivity 2.1, e-tivity 2.2 and e-tivity 2.3, only when you have completed e-tivities 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 and when you are well prepared.
- Select activity Africa governance issues
  
  Africa governance issues File PDF
  
  Sovereignty
  
  Coercion
  
  Legitimacy
  
  Authority
  
  Democracy
  
  State relations with civil society
  
  871.2 KB
- Select activity E-tivity 2.1. Assignment on unit two
  
  E-tivity 2.1. Assignment on unit two
  
  After reading trough indicated material in the learning resources, choose one among the following questions and write your answer in a one-page essay. Paste your answer in the provided space
  
  • Were African leader justified in centralizing states and imposing one party rule?
  
  • How democratic were the more open parliamentary elections found in states such as Kenya and Tanzania?
  
  • Why did local government and independent judiciaries not prosper in Africa’s centralized states?
  
  • Was African personal rule an efficient form of government?
  
  • To what extent did clientelism legitimate personal rule in post-colonial Africa?
  
  • Why had the post-colonial African state reached a point of crisis by the 1980s?
  
  • How successful was civil society in countering the power of the vampire state?
  
  • To what extent have African states collapsed over the last two decades?
  
  • Who prospered most in the 1980s and 1990s, state elites or members of civil society?
  
  • Assess the performance of the state’s own survival strategies.
  
  • Did African states benefit from the international political environment of the Cold War?
  
  • To what extent have external patrons differed in their policies towards African states?
  
  • Would you describe the ‘New World Order’ as a positive development for Africa?
  
  • Has the intervention of external interests merely served to underwrite the power of the African state in the post-colonial period?
  
  • Are external interests ever justified in violating a state’s sovereignty?
  
  • To what extent has the international economy hindered Africa’s post-colonial economic development?
  
  • How did African states become so indebted to the West?
  
  • What are the key reforms associated with SAP?
  
  • Has SAP produced economic growth on the African continent?
  
  • What has been the political and social impact of SAP and debt relief?
- Select activity E-tivity 2.2 Discussion on Coercive Politics in Africa
  
  E-tivity 2.2 Discussion on Coercive Politics in Africa Forum
  
  Instructions:
  
  Choose one of the following questions and attempt to answer it in details. Post your answer in the discussion forum. You may also comment once on other students' posts. Your participation in this e-tivity will be graded according to the frequency and pertinence of your posts.
  
  Questions:
  
  To what extent can African military coups be explained by environmental (socio-economic/ political culture) factors?
  
  Did the professional characteristics of the military force it to intervene in Africa’s political process?
  
  Can African military coups be accounted for by the personal interests of soldiers?
  
  What problems do military governments face once they come to power?
  
  How would you rate the performance of the military regimes in post-colonial Africa?
  
  To what extent can African military coups be explained by environmental (socio-economic/ political culture) factors?
  
  Did the professional characteristics of the military force it to intervene in Africa’s political process?
  
  Can African military coups be accounted for by the personal interests of soldiers?
  
  What problems do military governments face once they come to power?
  
  How would you rate the performance of the military regimes in post-colonial Africa?
- Select activity E-tivity 2.3. Test for unit Two
  
  E-tivity 2.3. Test for unit Two Quiz
  
  Aim: Evaluate your understanding of the salient issues in the governance of post-colonial Africa
  
  Instructions:
  
  This quiz is taken online and automatically marked. You will have to answer 20 questions in 20 minutes click start only when you are ready. Use this material and read chapters 6-11 of the book to prepare for this assessment.