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Learning To Be Free: The Print Media Of Cotonou, Benin, Stephen Urbanski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Benin, a West African republic of six million people, has had multiple influences shape its cultural and historical landscape, including the French colonization, a multiplicity of dictators, and a 17-year period of Marxism. During the early years of the colonization, the print media was particularly dissident, always advocating an end to the colonization, which greatly disrupted the regions core pan-African values. In 1990, the National Conference heralded a conversion to democracy as well as a boom in the number of privately owned newspapers.

This dissertation addresses at the concept of freedom and how it is defined from both a Western …

The Role Of Political Behavior And Socio-Economic Development In The Transition And Consolidation Of Liberal Democracy In Sub Saharan Africa, Godfrey Wachira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study utilizes the multivariate regression techniques to investigate the role of political behavior; power structure (at the micro level) and socio economic development (macro level) in the transition and consolidation of democracy in Sub Saharan Africa. In the analysis, political behavior, defined as the acceptance of political elites to accommodate divergent views, is the most significant predictor of democracy in the region. Socio economic development is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the consolidation of democracy in the region. In conclusion, I argue that Sub Saharan African nations must pursue both political and economic liberalization which entails the …