Democracy and Culture: An African Perspective

Description

Since the end of the Cold War, Africa has witnessed a political rebirth and second liberation as decades of autocracy and dictatorship became gradually replaced by a new wave of democratization and plural political competition. This political rebirth has revived the Afro-optimism that accompanied the independence decade of the 1960s. This optimism, however, co-exists with protracted and deadly conflicts in many parts of the continent - from wars in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, to stalemate in democratic reform in Niger, Guinea and Cameroon, and democratic retraction in Uganda. Additionally, Africa faces many problems including wars, famine, refugees, internal displacement and a host of diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Similarly, despite the adoption of constitutions that guarantee the basic human rights and freedoms by many African states, human rights violations remain rampant throughout the continent's political landscape. Democracy and Culture: An African Perspective is an analysis of the democracy project in Africa. Basically the contributors seek answers to a number of fundamental questions: How is democracy to be defined in the African context? Is the Western style democracy which is being adopted in many parts of Africa culturally and environmentally neutral? Can it really be replicated in Africa? And what is the role of African culture in the current democracy project? Title Page TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO PART I DEMOCRACY: A MULTIDSICIPLINARY CONCEPT CHAPTER THREE Empirical Patterns: Africa’s Partial Democratization1 Figure 3.1: Democratic Progress in Africa Figure 3.2: Democratic Consolidation among Africa Democracies Figure 3.3: Successful Consolidations among New Democracies Figure 3.4: Setback countries Figure 3.5: Still Births: Non-Democratizing Countries Table 3.1. Categories of Democratic Experiments in Africa (as of end 2003) What Differentiates the Categories of African Democratic Experiments? Table 3.2. Variability among Categories of Democratic Experiment An Additional Hypothesis: Democracy as Export Table 3.3.: Regression Analysis Conclusions Notes and references CHAPTER FOUR Historical background Current Picture Figure 4.1: Adult literacy rate by sex in sub Saharan Africa Africa’s challenges to universal literacy and democracy Language and culture A framework to advance literacy and democracy Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE OVERVIEW Research overview Table 5.1: Principal and official languages in selected African states THE LANGUAGE ECOLOGY IN AFRICA TOWARDS THE ARTICULATION OF JUDICIOUS POLICIES Expansion of African linguistic markets Facilitation of knowledge production Eradication of illiteracy Table 5.2: Adult (15+) Literacy Rates by Region and Gender for 2000- 2004 Table 5.3: Adult (15+) Literacy rates by sex per African states, 1990 - 2004 Development of participatory democracy Conclusion Notes and References CHAPTER SIX Introduction What ‘globalization’ means and what it does not Language vitality in Sub-Saharan Africa: A historical perspective Lessons from South Africa Conclusions Notes and References CHAPTER SEVEN Colonialism and Its Impact on African state Democracy, Governance and Africa’s Reality. Conclusion: Notes and References PART II: CASE STUDIES CHAPTER EIGHT Multiparty Elections and Women’s Participation Political Gains for Women Beyond Numbers Constraints Conclusion Notes and References CHAPTER NINE Background Women Movements, Organizations and NGOs Cultural hindrance Achievement of Affirmative Action Women Representation and Electoral system A Statement of Specific Goals and Objectives of the Research Results and Conclusions of the Study CHAPTER TEN The Democratic Tanzania SAP, Role of the State and Democracy Table 10.1.: Real GDP Growth for the Years 1988-1995 in Tanzania Table 10. 2.: Real GDP Growth for the Years 1996-2005 in Tanzania Figure 10.1: Trends of external trade 1986-2001 Table 10.3.: FDI Inflow to Tanzania 1994-1999 Development and Democracy Conclusion Notes and References CHAPTER ELEVEN Freedom of Expression as bedrock of development. “Monga – Njawe Affair 1991” Trailblazing Mavericks of the press Continuity and Change Conclusion CHAPTER TWELVE Democracy and Democratization in Africa: An overview Figure 12.1: Freedom in sub Saharan Africa 1980-2006 III. Democratic Experience in Angola, Mali, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe Table 12.1: Democratic scores of Angola, Mali, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe 1980- 2006 CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Road Ahead: A Conclusion ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ABOUT THE AUTHORS SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Index