An Introduction to African Politics

This fully updated fifth edition of An Introduction to African Politics is an ideal textbook for those new to the study of this fascinating continent.

Charting trends in government over six decades of the post-colonial era, the book tackles key questions such as: How have African states made sense of their colonial inheritance? How relevant are ethnic and religious identities? Why have some states collapsed and others prospered? Why did the one-party state fail? Why is contemporary Africa now dominated by electoral authoritarian states, and not the multi-party democracies promised in the 1990s?

Key features include:

thematically organised, with chapters exploring issues such as colonialism, ethnicity, nationalism, religion, social class, ideology, legitimacy, authority, sovereignty and democracy;

new five-part structure makes clearer Africa’s political evolution over time;

new chapter on the emergence of ‘hybrid states’ and ‘electoral authoritarianism’;

more coverage of twenty-first century governance trends such as China’s impact, the changing role of the military, different uses of ‘client–patron’ networks, Western conditionality and the ‘Africa rising’ debate;

colour presentation of maps, photos and data;

boxed case studies including Mali, Tanzania, Nigeria, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Somalia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tunisia and Angola;

each chapter concludes with key terms and definitions, questions and further reading.

An Introduction to African Politics is essential reading for students seeking an accessible introduction to the complex social relationships and events that characterise the politics of post-colonial Africa.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Introductions and the Historical Inheritance

1. Introduction: State, civil society and external interests

2. History: Africa’s pre-colonial and colonial inheritance

Part 2: The Dominant African State, 1960s-1970s

3. Ideology: Nationalism, socialism, populism and state capitalism

4. Ethnicity and religion: ‘Tribes’, gods and political identity

5. Social class: The search for class politics in Africa

6. Legitimacy: Neo-patrimonialism, personal rule and the centralisation of the African state

7. Coercion: Military intervention in African politics

8. Sovereignty I: External influences on African politics

Part 3: The Weakened Africa State, 1980s-1990s

9. Sovereignty II: Neo-colonialism, structural adjustment and Africa’s political economy

10. Authority: The crises of accumulation, governance and state collapse

Part 4: The Re-fashioned African State, 1990s-present

11. Democracy: Multi-party elections re-legitimising the African state?

12. Hybrid regimes: ‘Africa rising’, stalled transitions, or something in-between?

Part 5: Conclusions

13. Conclusions: The changing relationship between state, civil society and external interests in post-colonial Africa