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Political Science 320 |
Spring 1999 |
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Professor Robert B. Packer |
Office: Willis 413 |
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Phone: x4119 (Office) |
Email: rpacker@carleton.edu |
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Thirty-nine years have passed since Ghana became the first state in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence from the imperial powers. In the early years of African independence, immediately after 1960 - the "Year of Independence" for seventeen new states, the future appeared bright. After eighty years of imperial rule, African people achieved a measure of political autonomy. New leaders promised a future of development of the continent's potential. Expectations were high.
The past four decades have not been kind ones. African states, with few exceptions, have been beleaguered by declining living standards, famine, dependence on primary commodity exports, and governmental instability. Since 1958, there have been over 70 military interventions, as civilian rulers have failed to deliver on promises. The notion of the nationstate, so integral a part of European political science since the Peace of Westphalia lacks concreteness in the African setting. With few exceptions, the states that emerged in subSaharan Africa were artificial. The imperial powers demarcated borders that were indifferent to the ethno-linguistic boundaries prevailing at the time of the imperium.
African governments have tried many formulae to address the issue of the multi-ethnic state. Most, however, have resorted to ethnic domination by one group, setting in train further political instability. The Western democratic constitutions that most African states had at the onset of independence were soon found to be mere pieces of paper. Lacking indigenous roots, the ideals that these constitutions held were alien to the populace. Traditional African forms of governance were shunned by the new Westernized elites that came to power at independence, partly for the sub-national community basis of traditional societies. The new leaders of African states had the burdens of nation-building and of creating new allegiances among the people.
Those tasks for African governments would have been formidable enough, given the deep ethno-linguistic cleavages in society, but compounding the issues were the equally formidable problems of economic development. As parts of empires, African economies were geared toward serving the needs of the imperial metropole. Cash crops and mineral ores were the main exports. Manufacturing and other industries, beyond those of processing the raw materials for exports, were discouraged. What emerged from this economic structure were economies woefully dependent upon the vagaries of the global commodities markets. Given the decline of commodity prices vis-ii-vis industrial product prices after World War II, African states have suffered a precipitous decline in their terms of trade. State-sponsored efforts to overcome this dependency have often resulted in a misallocation of resources as governments sought to extract the value of commodity production and trade in order to fund new industrial schemes.
Thus, in brief, is much of the subject matter of this course. The units of analysis are subSaharan Africa and its component states. We will look at the imperial legacy and problems of nation-building. We will encounter the ethno-linguistic conflicts that have continued to be the pivot of African politics. We will explore the phenomena of military intervention, of civilian tyranny, and of the revived hope for democracy. And finally, time willing, we will explore the strategies for economic development.
COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STRUCTURE
It is presumed that participants have a nascent knowledge of post-imperial African history, and a rather thorough understanding of comparative politics. The course will set up in seminar style. I will briefly outline some of the salient points pertaining to the day's topic. However, it is expected that all students participate in discussion of the reading materials. Because this is a political science course, government and politics are what is stressed. However, social science is interdisciplinary. Therefore, certain economic, historical, and sociological concerns will be addressed as they create conditions for certain political behavior to play themselves out.
A note on geography: it has been cited in the popular press that American students lack geographic sophistication. Hopefully, this is not the case for this class. Because there are over fifty independent states in Africa asa whole, it is important for Africa scholars to know the location, topography, and climate of each state under study.
TEXTBOOKS
Given what may be varying degrees of knowledge about Africa coming into the course, I have ordered two texts - and will use parts of several others - that should be useful references for the experienced and exciting introductions for the novice. The two major texts are:
William Tordoff, Government and Politics in Africa , 2nd ed. (1993)
Chazan, Mortimer, Ravenhill, and Rothchild, Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa, 2nd ed. (1992)
Some brief words on each. The Tordoff text is classic introductory material. It is excellent in highlighting and explaining the major substantive issues in African politics. The Chazan et al. text looks at Africa from a slightly more advanced, social science, perspective. It attempts to outline the debate in African studies scholarship, and offers a richer analysis of African politics.
Other texts, of which I will place selected chapters on Library Reserve, are:
J. Gus Liebenow, African Politics (1986)
Richard Sanbrook, The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation (1985),
Vincent Khapoya, The African Experience (1993),
Hyden and Bratton, Governance and Politics in Africa (1992),
Diamond, Linz, and Lipset, (ed.), Democracy in Developing Countries: Africa (1988),
Samuel Decalo, Coups and Army Rule in Africa, 2nd ed. (1990),
Berg and Whitaker, (ed.), Strategies for African Development (1986),
Obasanjo and d'Orville, (ed.), The Leadership Challenge of Economic Reform in Africa (199 1),
Robert H. Bates, Toward a Political Economy of Development (1988),
Richard Sanbrook, The Politics of Africa's Economic Recovery (1993).
The Liebenow text is an excellent introductory source, whiph, like Tordoff, illuminate major issues. Hyden and Bratton, like Chazan, et al, uses more of a social science approach. The Diamond, et al, and Decalo texts deal with forms of rulership on the continent, and provide excellent case studies with a clear analytic focus. The final four all have economic conditions and policy as their central themes.
In addition to the above texts and book chapters, shorter readings, i.e., articles from scholarly journals and respected dailies and weeklies, will be assigned on certain topics. Given the transition to democracy taking place in many African countries, the hoped-for end to long and devastating civil wars, and the international humanitarian call to arms in Somalia and Rwanda, now is an exciting time to study sub-Saharan Africa.
ASSIGNMENTS
In addition to regular, required discussion, there will be a midterm, final term paper, and three short papers to be divided as follows:
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Discussion |
20% |
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Midterm (take-home; two four-to-five-page essays) |
30% |
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Term Paper (15-20 pages) |
35% |
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Three abstracts of articles in African studies (two pages each) |
10% |
The abstracts should be of data-based articles, with predictor and outcome variables. Though quantification is not required, a careful analysis of argument is. There are many "conventional wisdom" nostrums of how politics operate (in Africa, as elsewhere). As future scholars in the academy, or as professionals in the policy arena, the dissecting, careful review, and evaluation of arguments presented in print (and in discussion) are important, valued, skills. The purpose of research is to translate non-falsifiable statements into testable propositions, and thus attempt to separate the known from the speculative. Essential in the research quest are issues of epistemology (i.e., how do we know what we purport to know) and the choice of empirical referents used as evidence in testing propositions.
COURSE OUTLINE
I. Introduction: Modernization, Dependency, and State Capacity
January 4
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992) : 1-33.
Lairson and Skidmore, International Political Economy: The Struggle for Power and Wealth (1993): 181-200.
Huntington, from "Change to Change: Modernization, Development and Politics," Comparative Politics (April 1971): 314-319.
Ayoob, "The Security Predicament of the Third World State: Reflections on State Making in a Comparative Perspective," in Job, ed., The Insecurity Dilemma: National Security of Third World States (1992): 63-80.
January 9
Sandbrook, The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation (1985): 1-62.
Jackson & Rosberg, "Why Africa's Weak States Persist: The Empirical and Juridical in Statehood, World Politics 35, 1 (1982): 1-24.
II. The Colonial Legacy and the Challenge of State-Building
January 11
Tordoff, Government and Politics in Africa (1993): 24-41.
Liebenow, African Politics (1986): 13-44.
Amin, "Undevelopment and Dependence in Black Africa - Origins and Contemporary Forms," Journal of Modern African Studies (1972): 503524.
January 16
Tordoff, Government and Politics in Africa (1993): 42-66.
Liebenow, African Politics (1986): 45-101.
III. State Institutions and Civil Society
January 18
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 37-72.
Hyden, "Governance and the Study of Politics," in Hyden and Bratton, ed., Governance and Politics in Africa (1991): 1-26.
January 23
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 73-130.
January 25
Tordoff, Government and Politics in Africa (1993): 67-90.
IV. Political Process and Political Change
January 30
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 133-152.
Jackson and Rosberg, "Personal Rule: Theory and Practice in Africa," Comparative Politics 16, 4 (1984): 421-442.
Decalo, Coups and Amy Rule in Africa (1990): 133-138.
Ng'ethe, "Strongmen, State Formation, Collapse, and Reconstruction in Africa," in Zartman, ed., Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority (1995): 251-264.
February 1
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contempory Africa (1992): 153-187.
Bratton and van de Walle, "Toward Governance in Africa: Popular Demands and State Responses," in Hyden and Bratton, ed., Governance and Politics in Africa (1991): 27-55.
February 6
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 189-224.
Tordoff, Government and Politics in Africa (1993): 148-176.
February 8
Decalo, Coups and Army Rule in Africa (1990): 1-32, 33-38, 133-138, 199-204, 285-296.
McGowan, "African Military Coups d'Etat and Underdevelopment: A Quantitative Historical Analysis," Journal of Modern African Studies 22, 4 (1984): 633-666.
V. Country Cases
February 13
Diamond, "Nigeria: Pluralism, Statism, and the Struggle for Democracy," in Diamond, Linz, and Lipset, ed., Democracy in Developing Countries: Africa (1988):33-92.
Suberu, "The Democratic Recession in Nigeria," Current History 93, 583 (1994): 213-218.
Decalo, Coups and Army Rule in Africa (1990):89-131.
February 15
Weiss, "Zaire: Collapsed Society, Surviving State, Future Polity," in Zartman, ed., Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority (1995): 157-170.
Nzongola-Ntalaja, "Zaire I: Moving Beyond Mobutu," Current History 93, 583 (1994): 219:222.
McCormick, "Zaire II: Mobutu, Master of the Game?" Current History 93, 583 (1994): 223-227.
Holm, "Botswana: A Paternalistic Democracy," in Diamond, Linz, and Lipset, ed., Democracy in Developing Countries: Africa (1988): 179-216.
February 20
Chazan, "Ghana: Problems of Governance and the Emergency of Civil Society," in Diamond, Linz, and Lipset, ed., Democracy in Developing Countries: Africa (1988): 93-140.
Rothchild, "Rawlings and the Engineering of Legitimacy in Ghana," in Zartman, ed., Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority (1995):49-65.
February 22
Decalo, Coups and Army Rule in Africa (1990):139-198.
Khadiagala, "State Collapse and Reconstruction in Uganda," in Zartman, ed., Collapsed States: The Disintegration and Restoration of Legitimate Authority (1995): 33-48.
VI. Political Economy
February 27
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 227-273.
February 29
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 275-219.
March 1
Sandbrook, The Politics of Africa's Economic Recovery (1993): 21-86.
Holm, "Botswana: One African Success Story," Current History 93, 583 (1994): 198-202.
IV. Africa and the World
March 7
Chazan, et al., Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa (1992): 377-416.
Bryden, "Somalia: The Wages of Failure," Current History 94, 591 (1995): 145151.
de Waal and Omaar, "The Genocide in Rwanda and the International Response," Current History 94, 591 (1995): 156-161.
Holmquist and Ford, "Stalling Political Change: Moi's Way in Kenya," Current History 94, 591 (1995): 177-18 1.