GOVERNANCE, CIVIL
SOCIETY AND THE "NEW"
AFRICA
PIA 2574
“An End of Class
Editorial”
Corny but…
The Primacy of the African
Nation-State- How sovereign
a. Impact of trans-national actors
b. Issue of micro-states
c. Rational Actor model- public or
social choice theory
Swaziland; 6,000 square miles
Population, 1.1 million
The Primacy of the African
Nation-State- How sovereign
d. Collective choice is it non-rational?
Is it more than an aggregate of
individuals?
e. The role of international regimes- UN,
World Bank, IMF, etc. New
International Order (NIO)
Targeting Economic Groups
Democracy: What is it?
Democracy and:

1. Governance

2. Local Government

3. Civil Society
Types of Democracy
•
Direct Democracy
•
Indirect Democracy
•
Pluralism vs. Polyarchy
•
Civil Society
•
Cooperative Movement
Review: James Madison and
Democracy:

The problem with majorities

Tyranny

Factions
Direct Democracy vs.
Representative Democracy

Populism vs. Minority rights

Shifting majorities

Problem with
Plebiscites
Guinea 1958 “No” Vote
Definitions of Democracy in Africa

The First Issue: Opposition vs.
Consensus

The Second Issue: “A Chief is a Chief
by the People”
Ashante, Ghana
Definitions of Democracy:
Review

Presidential Systems- Separation of
Powers

Parliamentary systemsRepresentation and Fusion

Traditional Africa- Consensus and
hierarchy
South Africa’s Parliament
Defining Democracy

Village democracy and talking
things out

Ubuntu, Ujamaa and Humanism

How Collective, How Market Friendly
THE INSTITUTIONAL STATE

What is the "Institutional State?“

Why is it important?
The Institutional State:

Civil Society

Institutionalized
Norms

Stable Government
The Institutional State:

Permanent Government: The
Administrative apparatus

Goal: Muted Cultural Differences

Defining Bureaucracy- the permanent
government
The Institutional State: The
Reality

Breakdown of Governance

Bureaucracy and
Corruption

Military Coups
The Institutional State: The
Reality

Self Serving Bureaucrats

Bureaucratic Elites

Civil War-Violence: Inter-state Conflict
and African Development
Governance and Sovereignty
Rules of the Game politics: Zero/sum vs.
sum/sum politics

"Splintering"- the break up of statescentrifugal forces

Interest Group Liberalism-how real?

Civil Society as organizational, not
individual, or the mass.
Congo Wars
Governance and Sovereignty
The need for apathy?

Constitutional vs. social stability

Institutional structures and Checks
and balances:
Traditional Society:

Forms of Traditional Influence in
Local Government

Grass Roots- traditional governance
mechanisms governance in subSaharan Africa

The Answer or the Problem?
Traditional Influence-Review
1. Full Meeting (Town Hall style)- Direct
Democracy
2. Pure Form- Traditional Councils
(Appointed)
3. Partial- Half Elected/Half Traditional
4. Technical- deconcentrated.
Department heads and Traditional
(No Elections
African Justice?
Traditional Influence
5. Specialized- Judicial Function
6. Specialized Partial- Land Board (2
Trad., 2 LG, 2 Cen. Gov.)
7. Bicameral- Traditional as an upper
house
J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace (London:
Penguin, 1999).

Born, 1940
Cyprian Ekwensi, People of the
City (London: Heineman, 1954)

1921-2007
Peter Abrahams, Mine Boy
(London: Heineman, 1946)

Born: 1919
Discussion Points

HOW IMPORTANT IS DEMOCRACY
FOR DEVELOPMENT?

HOW REALISTIC IS CIVIL SOCIETY IN
AFRICA?

CAN GOVERNMENT BE STABILIZED?
Discussion

What have you been Reading?

What Should your colleagues read?

Logistics?