African Democracy Governance

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Sub-Saharan Africa has undergone monumental changes since the early 1990s, when a wave of protest, liberalization, and elections swept the continent. This was heralded as an era of rebirth, or a “second liberation” in African politics. More than twenty years later, the magnitude and depth of these changes remain unclear. In some cases like Liberia and Ghana important strides have been made toward deeper democratic participation, while in other cases like Cameroon and Kenya elections have been marred by violence, fraud, and the survival of former autocrats. Economic development has improved living conditions for millions of Africans, yet corruption plagues nearly every country and many people have been left behind these developments. Peaceful resolutions to civil wars in Mozambique and Sierra Leone are paralleled with images of genocide in Sudan and the continuous conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This course will explain and assess three types of transitions that the continent has undergone: transitions from closed to multiparty regimes, transitions from closed to liberalized economies, and transitions from war to peace. To understand and assess these waves of change requires students to evaluate a number of factors that will be discussed throughout this course – the legacy of colonialism, the structure of African societies and geography, the role of leadership, political institutions, and civil society, and the impact of international actors and foreign aid.