African Politics

(2.5-3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course provides an introduction to contemporary African politics. Students will examine the common themes and trends that shape politics and development across the continent. Some of the core questions that motivate the course are: Why did authoritarianism emerge in many African countries after independence? Why have authoritarian governments been able to persist in some countries but not others? What enables Africans to hold their leaders accountable? How has the international context, particularly Western intervention in the form of missionaries, colonialism, and development assistance, affected African politics and economy? To what extent does poverty on the continent have political causes? What are the current prospects for democracy and growth in Africa? In the course of the semester, we will see that there is large variation within Africa in the strength of states, the levels of economic growth and respect for democratic institutions; we will aim to explain these variations. To do so, we will study events in particular African countries, but also more importantly examine broad patterns across countries and use social science concepts and methos to try to explain them. In our exploration, we will mostly build on the work of political scientists but also draw heavily on writing from anthropologists, economists, historians, and journalists.