Comparative Politics Commons^™

Technology And The Sustainable Implementation Of The African Continental Free Trade Area (Afcfta) Through Women’S Integration, Philip Ademola Olayoku

Journal of African Policy Studies

The desire for economic prosperity on the African continent led to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in line with the vision of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), when it proposed the creation of an African Economic Community (AEC) by 2028. However, sustainable economic development will remain a mirage without inclusivity where no one is left behind, in line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This study explores the challenge of restricting women to economic margins in trade agreements under the AfCFTA and how this would undermine its implementation. It subsequently contends that women are integral to Africa’s …

Broadening The Scope Of The "Justiciability" Debate To Include The Right To Development: An Analysis Of The African Human Rights Monitoring Bodies, Serges Djoyou Kamga

Journal of African Policy Studies

The right to development (RTD) is the most controversial human right of our time. Opponents argue that it is not justiciable. Besides the adoption of the Draft Covenant on the RTD, the right is binding in the African human rights system. It is on this backdrop that the article shows the justiciability of this right through its juridification and application in domestic courts. It also examines the role of African human rights monitoring bodies in broadening the scope of the “justiciability” debate to include the RTD. This article examines the African Commission and Court’s pronouncements on the RTD and unveils …

Editor's Remarks, Julius A. Amin

Journal of African Policy Studies

Roughly two years ago, the University of Dayton Human Rights Center hosted a very important conference titled “Decolonization and Development for Africa and People of African Descent.” I attended this event and participated in several sessions of the conference. The topics and discussions were enlightening, and they stimulated much conversation about decolonization and development in relation to the social practice of human rights.

Participants at the conference came from both sides of the Atlantic, and those I spoke with agreed that the conference encouraged them to consider the topic of human rights with a new perspective. Within African studies, human …

Reclaiming Power: Decolonization And Development For Africa And People Of African Descent, Satang Nabaneh

Journal of African Policy Studies

The journey to this special issue has been a long and significant one for me, as an African deeply invested in the multifaceted realities of global Africa. Africa embodies the global. Its people, culture, and histories transcend borders, reflecting a deeply interconnected world. To speak of global Africa is to reject essentialist notions of African identity, recognizing that to be African is to be unbounded by space, place, or fixed definitions. This special issue, “Reclaiming Power: Decolonization and Development for Africa and People of African Descent,” was born out of the convergence of the 2023 Social Practice of Human Rights …

Cover And Front Matter, Journal Of African Policy Studies

Journal of African Policy Studies

Cover, journal information, and table of contents

Bihar Sir Threatens The Credibility Of Elections, Swati Narayan

Popular Media

Any arbitrary disenfranchisement of voters in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections will cast a shadow over the sanctity of elections in India.

The New Right-Wing Populist: The Blonde “Mother Of The Nation”, Christina Charie

Political Science Undergraduate Theses

The rise of right-wing populism in European politics has come along side an increased presence of female representation in political affairs. What aesthetic decisions are being made by far-right female populist politicians? How do moderate right and left-wing women politicians differ in their presentation styles from populist women? While right-wing politics have gained traction in Europe before, this time women are the face of many right-wing populist movement, even though much of the ideology is rooted in misogyny and the presence of strong, masculine figureheads. With women taking center stage within these right-wing movements that are historically masculine, understanding their …

The Effect Of Ex-Ante Government Responsibility For Health On Public Health Financing In Post Pandemic Budgets, Denis Granados, Rylee Roman, Hallie Sidman

Working Papers Series

This paper investigates how pre-pandemic levels of government responsibility for public health financing influenced post-pandemic health spending across selected OECD countries. Using a combination of descriptive analysis and regression modeling, the study examines changes in public health expenditure per capita between 2019 and 2022, focusing on key variables such as the government’s share of health financing, the Total Pandemic Policy Intensity (PPI) index, and GDP per capita. Findings suggest that while all countries increased health spending post-COVID-19, the scale of change varied significantly based on economic capacity, institutional readiness, and political will. Notably, countries with higher pre-pandemic public health investment …

Functional Resilience Of Healthcare In The Critical Juncture Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Avner Kronisch, Christian Bongiorno, Kerane Smith, John Baker

Working Papers Series

This paper offers a comparative analysis of eight national healthcare systems—spanning democracies, autocracies, and various institutional models—to evaluate resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on Shvetsova et al.’s framework of informational and authority redundancies, and Parker & Klein’s “choke point” theory of healthcare rationing, we examine how institutional structure shaped pandemic response, system adaptability, and continuity of non-COVID services. Using indicators like life expectancy, under-five mortality, hospital capacity, cancer survival, and excess mortality, we explore how systems absorbed shock and maintained essential care. We find that decentralized and polycentric governance structures, when paired with coordination and resource adequacy, enhanced resilience—exemplified …

Covid-19 & Healthcare (Re)Privatization? A Comparative Analysis Of High And Medium Per Capita Gdp Countries, Kristina Donders, Kaitlyn Matthews, Brittany Reyes, Frank. H. Rizzo

Working Papers Series

This paper examines whether the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated healthcare privatization in high- and medium-GDP countries. Drawing on political economy theories of path dependence and privatization, we analyze changes in public and private healthcare expenditures in eight countries: Canada, Chile, Denmark, Georgia, Luxembourg, Norway, the Philippines, and South Korea—comparing data from 2019 and 2022. Using World Bank indicators on healthcare financing, GDP, aging populations, and food insecurity, we find that although healthcare expenditures generally increased during the pandemic, this increase was primarily in public, not private, spending. Case studies of Georgia and South Korea reveal that local economic and demographic pressures, …

Institutional Change In Healthcare As Brought About By The Critical Juncture Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Olga Shvetsova

Working Papers Series

This introduction to the 2025 capstone symposium lays the conceptual groundwork for a new approach to analyzing institutional change in healthcare systems triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Departing from conventional legal-institutional perspectives, it extends the decision space framework developed by Bossert (1998) to capture both formal authority and the de-facto responsibilities exercised by public and non-public actors. By disaggregating health responsibilities across levels of government and sectors—public, private, and hybrid—and operationalizing these as quantifiable indicators over time, the framework allows for real-time and comparative assessment of institutional transformation. The pandemic is treated as a critical juncture that exposed and reconfigured …

Cultural Ecologies And Local Policies: A Comparative Analysis, Alexis M. Gonzalez

University Honors Theses

In recent years, the role of arts and culture in economic development, community outreach, and local government has become focused on as a field of study. However, this is a new field of academic study, and there have not been many systematic comparative analyses of the role of arts and culture at the local level. Indeed, there is limited information at the state and federal level as well. Historically undervalued and underrepresented, yet with a streak of elitism involved, arts and culture is now being looked at as a major economic driver and social connector by policymakers at all levels …

The Invisible Hand Of Networked Repression, Thuy Anh Tran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

U.S. history is awash with contentious episodes involving a legion of governmental and non-governmental actors operating through an array of means and arenas to destroy the political opposition. Yet, there has been little systematic examination in the repression literature of how and why repressive efforts proliferate so far beyond the police, military, and intelligence agencies tasked and equipped to preserve the existing order. This dissertation presents a novel framework for studying the relational basis of repression—particularly as it is organized, mobilized, and extended through a networked social structure. Social network analysis and interpretive case studies are conducted on two historical …

Post Soviet Russia: Challenges To Transition And Modernization, Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the beginning of a complex, often turbulent, period of transition and modernization for Russia. Unlike the anticipated linear path toward Western-style democracy and market economics, Russia’s post-Soviet experience has been defined by profound contradictions, reversals, and ongoing contestations over its political, economic, and social order (Minakov, 2016). The initial wave of reforms, particularly in the 1990s, brought about radical economic restructuring, privatization, and an attempted shift to a free-market system. Yet, these rapid changes led to significant economic dislocation, social inequality, and the rise of oligarchic power structures, which ultimately undermined …

Power Asymmetry Dynamics: Assessing Interdependence In France-Cameroon Relations Through Economic And Security Cooperation (2000–2024), Chick Edmond

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This paper examines the dynamics of power asymmetry in the interdependent relationship between Cameroon and France from 2000 – 2024 with a focus on security and economic cooperation. The main research question asks: To what extent has power asymmetry reinforced or mitigated the interdependent relationship between Cameroon and France within the realm of economic and security cooperation? Based on the hypothesis that increased interdependence between these two states during this period has strengthened existing power disparity. The paper examines how such dynamics have restrained Cameroon’s autonomy and its capacity to pursue policy goals.

The theoretical framework combines dependency theory, postcolonial …

Problems And Paradigms In The Central Sahel Of Africa, Georgia Graham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In Africa’s Central Sahel region—comprising of the countries of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso—environmental hardship, historical trauma, and contemporary conflict intersect with profound challenges of nation-building, state construction, and economic development. Situated in the semi-arid transitional zone between the Sahara Desert and sub-Saharan Africa, these landlocked states suffer from extreme geographical vulnerability. From the colonial period through to the present, these nations have experienced recurring droughts, persistent food insecurity, and entrenched poverty. Population growth has dramatically outpaced economic development; youth unemployment, limited educational opportunities, and scarce resources fuel social tension and potential conflict. Islamist insurgencies and increasingly violent ethnic conflicts …

The Unholy Matrimony: Russia And Violent Non-State Actors, Justin Castro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Russia’s contemporary relationship with violent non-state actors has been at the forefront of news due to the conflict in Ukraine. Despite the international shock at this phenomenon, this is an age-old practice for Russia. Since the 17^th century, the Russian state has developed a strategy of utilizing violent non-state actors in order to achieve its geopolitical objectives that consist of expanding its territory, extending its influence abroad, and weakening the capabilities of adversaries. While this strategy seems clear-cut, it contains a rich history of Russia trying to manage its relationship with non-state actors from a position of weakness and …

Sociology: Culture, Marcia Morrison

Open Educational Resources

This work examine culture. It begins by examining the foundations of culture to include norms, values, language, symbols and knowledge. In looking at each, it breaks down the implication of each to the development of ourselves as well as the person in the environment. It moves on to look at contexts of culture such as dominant cultures juxtapose to competing cultural systems, and how the various elements of culture can serve to either promote or minimize the various cultural constructs within society.

An Antidote To Populist Ill-Rule? Polycentricity, And Excess Mortality In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michael Lee

Publications and Research

It has often proven difficult for scholars of populist governance to untangle the policy results produced by populist governments from the conditions that might lead voters to elect populist leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic – an exogenous event occurring amidst the rise of populist governments to power in many of the world’s democracies – offers a unique window into populist crisis management. Are populists less effective crisis managers when the stakes are high? And if so, what factors might mitigate populist ill-rule? In this paper I present evidence that populist-led governments experienced greater levels of excess mortality in the COVID-19 pandemic …

Nigerian Democratization And Internal Party Contest For Leadership, Salihu Moh. Lukman

Journal of African Policy Studies

It was the American journalist and political commentator, Fareed Zakaria, in the book The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, who argued that democratization everywhere is shifting power downward. According to him, the process of democratization goes far beyond politics and result in hierarchies, “breaking down, closed systems, are opening up, and pressures from the masses are now the primary engine of social change. Democracy has gone far from being a form of government to a way of life.” The role of political parties all over the world in facilitating the shift of power to the people …