Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Strategic Governance To “Silence The Guns” In Africa: Urban Sub-Saharan African Perceptions On War's Root Causes., Peter Tresor Miyalou, Chun Yan Hu

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

Despite the African Union’s campaign to silence the guns in Africa by 2020 (STGIA 2020), many African countries are suffering from wars and political instability, the primary causes of underdevelopment in Africa. This paper examines the roots causes of wars in Africa and provide a strategic governance to silence the guns beyond 2020. To accomplish this, we gathered data from 169 questionnaire responses administered across 25 African countries, to capture African people’s perceptions on the root causes of wars and whether employing strategic governance would help silence the guns in these countries. The results showed that political power struggle (47.9%), …

Un Enfoque Comparado Sobre Los Regímenes De Bienestar Para El Estudio De Las Políticas Sociales Globales, Geof Wood, Ian Gough

Gobernar: The Journal of Latin American Public Policy and Governance

Beginning from the framework of welfare state regimes in rich capitalist countries, this article radically redefines it and applies the new model to regions and countries which experience problematic states as well as imperfect markets. A broader, comparative typology of regimes (welfare state, informal security, insecurity) is proposed, which captures the essential relationships between social and cultural conditions, institutional performance, welfare outcomes, and path dependence. Using this model, different regions of the world (East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa) are compared. For many poorer, partially capitalized societies, people’s security relies informally upon various clientelist relationships. Formalizing rights …

The Impacts Of Political Conflicts In Africa, Douglas Kimemia

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

The number of conflicts and deaths in Africa is rooted in the complex constructions and conjectures of Africa’s political economies, weak institutions, social identities, and cultural ecologies, as configured by specific local, national, regional, and historical experiences. Using real-time data of violent and nonviolent events in Africa, this paper analyzes the most significant indicators. The paper finds that Gross Domestic Product, corruption, state legitimacy, ethnic fractionalization, political effectiveness, and polity are significant in modeling the likelihood of political instability. The paper concludes that African countries require reconfiguration of the public and social institutions without ignoring the human factor that accelerate …

Success And Shortcomings: Disarmament, Demobilization, And Reintegration In Eastern And Central Africa, Grace Marshall

Honors Program Theses

In post-conflict transitions, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration have played a crucial role in the treatment of former combatants and the advancement of peacebuilding. This peacebuilding process, known as DDR, has experienced successes and failures throughout its implementation across the globe. Specifically, as conflict erupted across many nations in Central and Eastern Africa, the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs that were implemented during different nations’ peacebuilding transition towards at the turn of the twenty first century experienced variations among their success at reducing or halting conflict. This investigation analyzes the factors that contribute to the ability for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration …

Beyond Urban Bias: Peasant Movements And The State In Africa, Connor Rockett

Honors Projects

Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, this study tests the hypothesis that state intervention in agrarian economies causes peasant movements to engage in broad-based contention, on regional and national levels. The study traces the connections between government land and agricultural institutions and the characteristics of rural movements that make claims on them. Case studies of regions of Tanzania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia show the ways in which rural movements are constructed in response to the political and social environments in which they arise. That is, the comparisons demonstrate that the character of political authority and social organization are important determinants of …

Domestic Economic Freedom And Regional Integration In Sub-Saharan Africa, Brevin Anderson

Honors Projects

This paper examines the relationship between policies facilitating domestic economic freedom in Sub-Saharan African states and the degree of regional integration of those states into their respective regional economic communities. It conducts a linear regression analysis with data from the Economic Freedom of the World Report 2017 and the AFRICA Regional Integration Index to conduct a quantitative study of Sub-Saharan African states. The regression finds strong evidence that domestic economic freedom is a significant contributing factor, between 5% and 15% causality, to a state’s degree of regional integration. The paper hypothesizes that private sector political and economic activity is the …

Making African Civil Society Work: Assessing Conditions For Democratic State-Society Relations In Rwanda, Fiacre Bienvenu

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers a single case in-depth analysis of factors precluding civil society from democratizing African polities. Synthesizing existing literature on Rwanda, I first undertake an historical search to trace the origins and qualities of civil society in the colonial era. This effort shows, however, that the central authority—commencing before the inception of the Republic in 1962—consistently organized civil society to buttress its activities, not to challenge them. Next, using ethnographic research, I challenge conventional economic and institutional accounts of civil society’s role in democratization. I show that institutional change and the economic clout of organized groups are marginal and …

Strategic Culture In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Divergent Paths Of Uganda And Tanzania, Kevin Frank

Dissertations

Strategic culture is a concept accepted by scholars and practitioners, but with problematic applicability to states newly independent or emerging from conflict. The elements that comprise strategic culture in the developed world are not always present in emerging states. This research addresses the pertinency of strategic culture in Uganda and Tanzania, and then tests the operationalization of the concept using the case of participation in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The African Union and the international community expected Uganda and Tanzania to contribute troops to AMISON in 2007. In the event, Uganda did and Tanzania chose another path. …

Swords Into Ploughshares: Agricultural Recovery And Postwar Institutional Development In Sub-Saharan Africa, Jinu R. Abraham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Civil wars have long been characterized in the comparative politics literature as having profoundly negative economic effects for both individual households and countries on a larger scale. However, variation in postwar economic outcomes indicates that conflict may indeed have some curative effects. I argue political settlements in the aftermath of civil wars can shape postwar economic outcomes by transforming institutions critical to agricultural productivity. The structure of the state postwar can shape land tenure security, local government participation, and the management of preexisting social divisions. I employ a case study method controlling for differences on the independent variable in order …

The Marriage Of Governance And Development, Vernon D. Johnson

Vernon D. Johnson

It is our pleasure to inaugurate The African Journal of Governance and Development, a new voice in the evolving conversation regarding the fate of the African continent in this era of globalisation. The editorial team wishes to thank the University of Saint Thomas of Maputo, Mozambique for offering the opportunity to provide a new outlet for those wishing to contribute to our understanding of the human condition in Africa. This journal aspires to be a multi-disciplinary publication that seeks to bring researchers and governance/development practitioners from around the world to share social scientific knowledge focused at the intersection of governance …

State-Led Industrial Development, Structural Transformation And Elite-Led Plunder: Angola (2002–2013) As A Developmental State, Jesse Salah Ovadia

Political Science Publications

From 2002-2013, Angola engaged in large-scale state-led reconstruction and development alongside an elite-led appropriation and seizure of national assets. Until the oil price shock, Angola had been succeeding in promoting rapid economic growth and possibly even significant social development alongside a massive grab of wealth and power by local elites. Today, though an economic crisis has taken hold, frequent predictions of the country’s immanent collapse have yet to be fulfilled. This paper reviews the state’s development planning and expenditure with a focus on public investment and industrial development to determine to what extent Angola during this period might have been …

Conflict Recurrence In Rwanda And Burundi, Kellan H. Ritter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis argues that the different reactions of the population and rival elites to executive attempts to extend term limits in Rwanda and Burundi reflect the different ways civil wars ended in these two countries. In Rwanda, a military victory resulted in institutions that placed less constraint on the ruling party, while in Burundi, a negotiated settlement placed comparatively greater constraints on the ruling party. As a result, the major party in Rwanda was more powerful than the major power in Burundi, and thus more capable to co-opt or coerce the opposition. This paper uses a most-similar case design to …

‘Going Out’ Or Staying In? The Expansion Of Chinese Ngos In Africa, Jennifer Yj Hsu, Timothy Hildebrandt, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

App Newsletter 8, Riccardo Pelizzo

Riccardo Pelizzo

Eight Issue of the APP Newsletter devoted to SDG, South Sudan, Tanzanian elections, and the alleged dividends of statelessness in Somalia.

App Newsletter 7, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

The seventh issue of the APP newsletter, with contributions by Michele Croce, founder and President of Verona Pulita, and Abel Kinyondo, Senior Researcher at REPOA.

App Newsletter 6, Riccardo Pelizzo

Riccardo Pelizzo

In the sixth of the newsletter of African Politics and Policy we discuss the costs of instability, the renovation of Togolese hotels, and the relationship between corruption, trust and legislatures.

App Newsletter 5, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

Fifth issue of APP Newsletter

App Newsletter 3, Riccardo Pelizzo

Riccardo Pelizzo

third issue of the APP newsletter where we discuss the results of the Nigerian elections, the consequences of falling oil price, and the costs of instability

App Newsletter 2, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

This is the second issue of the newsletter of African Politics and Policy. In this issue our collaborators discuss the uneasy relationship between democracy and development, Tourism in Tanzania, elections in Togo, and Chinese Investments in Africa.

Communities, Wildlife Conservation, And Tourism-Based Development: Can Community-Based Nature Tourism Live Up To Its Promise?, Robin L. Turner

Robin L Turner

This paper analyzes the opportunities and tensions generated by efforts to use conservationbased tourism as a catalyst for economic development. By exploring how historical legacies position actors and influence relationships between them, characterizing the nature tourism sector and its logic, and examining how liberalizing states are likely to engage with community-based tourism. I situate community-based nature tourism ventures in a broader political economic context. The paper draws from research on the Makuleke Region of Kruger National Park, South Africa to illustrate how these factors influence prospects for community benefit from protected area tourism. Like many other protected areas in Africa, …

Newsletter, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

first issue of the African Politics and Policy Newsletter

Evaluating The “Success” Of Disarmament, Demobilization, And Reintegration Programs: The Case Of Congo-Brazzaville, Zachary Karazsia

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

The end of hostilities between warring factions in Congo-Brazzaville has marked a decisive moment in the state’s developmental history. Post conflict reconstruction is a foundational component of public policies that restore order within society, igniting the engines of economic development, and in obtaining sustainable peace. In recent years, Africa has experienced a disproportionate share of conflicts compared with other regions; and leads the world in the number of present intrastate conflicts. Since the end of the Cold War, some African states have made advances in post conflict peacebuilding and intergroup reconciliation. This article focuses on post conflict reconstruction through the …

Public Accounts Committees In Eastern And Southern Africa: A Comparative Analysis, Abel A. Kinyondo, Riccardo Pelizzo

Abel Alfred Kinyondo

This article provides the first and most comprehensive analysis of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) from Eastern and Southern Africa building on the work of McGee, Jacobs, Stapenhurst, and Staddon. By analyzing an original set of data, this article shows that PACs in these two regions are bigger, have more staff members, and are more likely to be chaired by opposition Members of Parliament than they have in other countries and regions. Furthermore, the data show that Eastern and Southern African PACs are more active than their counterparts elsewhere. However, lack of political will and limits to the range of powers …

Goodbye To Europe And Hello To Asia: The New Imperialism Of “Chindia” In Africa, Sybil Gelin (Class Of 2014)

Writing Across the Curriculum

In 2006, the Chinese government released its first ever Africa policy paper. In the document, the government of China announced its plans to forge a strong and enduring relationship with Africa on the basis of four ideals: mutual tolerance despite differing ideologies, cooperation in international politics, economic intercourse predicated upon fairness, and observance of Africa’s right to choose its own path to economic development.[1] This document, along with the third Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (or FOCAC) (at which more than forty-five African leaders gathered to discuss the future of China-Africa relations), served as a springboard for future Chinese engagement …

First Steps Towards Hearts And Minds? Usaid’S Countering Violent Extremism Policies In Africa, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

The United States government has adopted new approaches to counter violent extremist organizations around the world. “Soft security” and development programs include focused educational training for groups vulnerable to terrorist recruitment, norm messaging through local radio programming, and job creation in rural communities. This article evaluates the effectiveness of one set of these multi-vectored, community-level programs through data from 200 respondents in two similar, neighboring towns in northern Mali, Africa. The data show that residents in Timbuktu who were exposed to the programming for up to five years displayed measurably altered civic behavior and listening patterns in comparison with their …

Escaping The Resource Curse: The Sources Of Institutional Quality In Botswana, Angela Gapa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Botswana has recently garnered analytic attention as an anomaly of the “resource curse” phenomenon. Worldwide, countries whose economies are highly skewed towards a dependence on the export of non-renewable natural resources such as oil, diamonds and uranium, have been among the most troubled, authoritarian, poverty-stricken and conflict-prone; a phenomenon widely regarded as the “resource curse". The resource curse explains the varying fortunes of countries based on their resource wealth, with resource-rich countries faring much worse than their resource-poor counterparts. However, Botswana, with diamond exports accounting for 50percent of government revenues and 80percent of total exports, has achieved one of the …

Decentralization Is Dead, Long Live Decentralization! Capital City Reform And Political Rights In Kampala, Uganda, Christopher Gore

Christopher D Gore

African cities are currently experiencing some of the highest population growth rates in the world. Accompanying this growth is constant and continuing pressure on national and local governments to develop political and institutional structures that respond to the multiple demands this demographic change provokes in relation to service delivery, economic development and social wellbeing. In response to these challenges, national governments are reviewing the political and administrative structures of their capital cities, sometimes recentralizing authority. This article examines the reforms to Kampala, capital city of Uganda. The article explains how the national government gradually created the legal conditions necessary to …

Norm Change In Africa – An Evaluation, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

This article (posted to the Extremis Project website) summarizes the work I carried out for the article “Radio as the Voice of God: Peace and Tolerance Radio Programming’s Impact on Norms." In it I discuss how I used the responses from 1000 residents of Chad, Mali, and Niger to evaluate countering violent extremism (CVE) programming undertaken by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Elusive Agency: Africa's Persistently Peripheral Role In International Relations, Stefan Andreasson

Stefan Andreasson

No abstract provided.

Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role Of Special Operation Forces Strengthening The Rule Of Law And Human Rights In Africa, Kevin H. Govern

Kevin H. Govern

This article will assess the roles and responsibilities of Special Operations Forces (SOF) within the newly created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) as an active proponent of a so-called “smart power” national security strategy. In particular, it will outline the economic, political, and military challenges faced in Africa; specifically, how and why SOCAFRICA is the U.S. force of choice for promoting human rights and rule of law in Africa. With the goals of the U.S. military in mind, questions will necessarily arise as to “what success looks like” for both the U.S. and African nations, and the roles of each in …