The State of the Nations

The State of the Nations PDF

Author: Michael F. Lofchie

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2024-06-21

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0520378628

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The State of the Nations is a collection of essays evaluating the political, social, and economic development of independent African states in the 1960s. The effort to employ the notion of constraint as a conceptual tool in analyzing African politics reflects an attempt to move away from evaluative terms such as development and modernization or decay and breakdown. Development, which has an implicit suggestion of social progress and constitutional government, seems inappropriate for the study of the wide array of political phenomena found in African states. Terms such as breakdown and decay—with an equally broad suggestion of disruption, disunity, and instability—seem equally inappropriate. The vantage point of the authors in this volume is primarily political, but their understanding of African development encompasses the social and economic spheres as well. The constraints that impede achievement of African objectives are varied, and many, of course, are not political. Geographical factors, for example, are supremely relevant in accounting for the availability of natural resources. The principal justification for emphasizing political rather than other constraints is the extent to which political will and political action can stimulate development in spite of other obstacles. Contributors: Jonathan Barker Henry Bienen Barbara Callaway Emily Card Martin R. Doornbos Rupert Emerson R. Cranford Pratt Richard E. Stryker Immanuel Wallerstein Claude E. Welch M. Crawford Young This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1971.

Re-Inventing Africa's Development

Re-Inventing Africa's Development PDF

Author: Jong-Dae Park

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-12-31

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 3030039463

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This open access book analyses the development problems of sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) from the eyes of a Korean diplomat with knowledge of the economic growth Korea has experienced in recent decades. The author argues that Africa's development challenges are not due to a lack of resources but a lack of management, presenting an alternative to the traditional view that Africa's problems are caused by a lack of leadership. In exploring an approach based on mind-set and nation-building, rather than unity – which tends to promote individual or party interests rather than the broader country or national interests – the author suggests new solutions for SSA's economic growth, inspired by Korea's successful economic growth model much of which is focused on industrialisation. This book will be of interest to researchers, policymakers, NGOs and governmental bodies in economics, development and politics studying Africa's economic development, and Korea's economic growth model.

Our Continent, Our Future

Our Continent, Our Future PDF

Author: P. Thandika Mkandawire

Publisher: IDRC

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 155250204X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent's development agenda.

Guarding the Guardians

Guarding the Guardians PDF

Author: Mathurin C. Houngnikpo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-22

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1317124308

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The relationship between civil society and the armed forces is an essential part of any polity, democratic or otherwise, because a military force is after all a universal feature of social systems. Despite significant progress moving towards democracy among some African countries in the past decade, all too many African militaries have yet to accept core democratic principles regulating civilian authority over the military. This book explores the theory of civil-military relations and moves on to review the intrusion of the armed forces in African politics by looking first into the organization and role of the army in pre-colonial and colonial eras, before examining contemporary armies and their impact on society. Furthermore it revisits the various explanations of military takeovers in Africa and disentangles the notion of the military as the modernizing force. Whether as a revolutionary force, as a stabilizing force, or as a modernizing force, the military has often been perceived as the only organized and disciplined group with the necessary skills to uplift newly independent nations. The performance of Africa's military governments since independence, however, has soundly disproven this thesis. As such, this study conveys the necessity of new civil-military relations in Africa and calls not just for civilian control of the military but rather a democratic oversight of the security forces in Africa.

Handbook of Administrative Ethics

Handbook of Administrative Ethics PDF

Author: Terry Cooper

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2019-02-21

Total Pages: 792

ISBN-13: 1482270455

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Delineating implications for administrative ethics from other fields such as sociology, psychology, and philosophy, this reference provides a comprehensive review of administrative ethics in the public sector. Detailing the context within which contemporary ethics training has developed, the book examines the effectiveness of ethics training, legal and organizational devices for encouraging desired conduct, and other topics of particular relevance to the political and social contexts of public administration. Written by over 25 leading scholars in public administration ethics, the book creates a taxonomy for administrative ethics using the categories of modern philosophy.

An Introduction to the Politics of Tropical Africa

An Introduction to the Politics of Tropical Africa PDF

Author: Richard Hodder-Williams

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-11-26

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 113685875X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This wide-ranging and informative introduction to politics in tropical Africa, first published in 1984, is essential reading to students, businessmen, government officials and economic advisers alike. Situating the contemporary scene firmly in its historical context, which stresses both pre-colonial and colonial heritages, he emphasizes how politicians are constrained by the past, the physical environment and the world’s economy, yet still retain freedom of choice on a wide range of issues. The book is thematically organised and provides both an overview of the general similarities of the continent and also enough detail to flesh out the realities of tribalism and corruption, as well as illustrating the variations that inevitably occur in a continent of sovereign states.