Africa's First Democrats

Africa's First Democrats PDF Author: Abdi Ismail Samatar
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253022371
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Abdi Ismail Samatar provides a clear and foundational history of Somalia at the dawn of the country's independence when Africa's first democrats appeared. While many African countries were dominated by authoritarian rulers when they entered the postcolonial era—and scholars have assumed this as a standard feature of political leadership on the continent—Somalia had an authentic democratic leadership. Samatar's political biography of Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen breaks the stereotype of brutal African tyranny. Samatar discusses the framing of democracy in Somalia following the years of control by fascist Italy, the formation of democratic organizations during the political struggle, and the establishment of democratic foundations in the new nation. Even though this early state of affairs did not last, these leaders left behind a strong democratic legacy that may provide a model of good governance for the rest of the continent.

Africa's First Democrats

Africa's First Democrats PDF Author: Abdi Ismail Samatar
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253022371
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book Here

Book Description
Abdi Ismail Samatar provides a clear and foundational history of Somalia at the dawn of the country's independence when Africa's first democrats appeared. While many African countries were dominated by authoritarian rulers when they entered the postcolonial era—and scholars have assumed this as a standard feature of political leadership on the continent—Somalia had an authentic democratic leadership. Samatar's political biography of Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen breaks the stereotype of brutal African tyranny. Samatar discusses the framing of democracy in Somalia following the years of control by fascist Italy, the formation of democratic organizations during the political struggle, and the establishment of democratic foundations in the new nation. Even though this early state of affairs did not last, these leaders left behind a strong democratic legacy that may provide a model of good governance for the rest of the continent.

Political Parties in South Africa

Political Parties in South Africa PDF Author: Thuynsma, Heather
Publisher: Africa Institute of South Africa
ISBN: 0798305142
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description
Political parties and the party system that underpins South Africa’s democracy have the potential to build a cohesive and prosperous nation. But in the past few years the ANC’s dominance has strained the system and tested it and its institutions’ fortitude. There are deeper issues of accountability that often spurn the Constitution and there is also a clear need to foster meaningful public participation and transparency. This volume offers a different and detailed assessment of the health of South Africa’s political system. This study intends to unravel the condition of the party system in South Africa and culminates in the question: Do South African parties promote or hinder democracy in the country? The areas of the party system that are known to require continued work are the weakness of democratic structures within parties, the perceived lack of responsibility of elected parliamentarians towards voters, non-transparent private partner financing structures and a lack of attractiveness of party-political commitment, especially for women. Experts in the respective fields address all of these areas in this book.

Democracy in Africa

Democracy in Africa PDF Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316239489
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the history of democracy in Africa and explains why the continent's democratic experiments have so often failed, as well as how they could succeed. Nic Cheeseman grapples with some of the most important questions facing Africa and democracy today, including whether international actors should try and promote democracy abroad, how to design political systems that manage ethnic diversity, and why democratic governments often make bad policy decisions. Beginning in the colonial period with the introduction of multi-party elections and ending in 2013 with the collapse of democracy in Mali and South Sudan, the book describes the rise of authoritarian states in the 1970s; the attempts of trade unions and some religious groups to check the abuse of power in the 1980s; the remarkable return of multiparty politics in the 1990s; and finally, the tragic tendency for elections to exacerbate corruption and violence.

Robben Island Rainbow Dreams

Robben Island Rainbow Dreams PDF Author: Neo Lekgotla laga Ramoupi
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781928246299
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


After Apartheid

After Apartheid PDF Author: Ian Shapiro
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813931010
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
Democracy came to South Africa in April 1994, when the African National Congress won a landslide victory in the first free national election in the country’s history. That definitive and peaceful transition from apartheid is often cited as a model for others to follow. The new order has since survived several transitions of ANC leadership, and it averted a potentially destabilizing constitutional crisis in 2008. Yet enormous challenges remain. Poverty and inequality are among the highest in the world. Staggering unemployment has fueled xenophobia, resulting in deadly aggression directed at refugees and migrant workers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Violent crime rates, particularly murder and rape, remain grotesquely high. The HIV/AIDS pandemic was shockingly mishandled at the highest levels of government, and infection rates continue to be overwhelming. Despite the country’s uplifting success of hosting Africa’s first World Cup in 2010, inefficiency and corruption remain rife, infrastructure and basic services are often semifunctional, and political opposition and a free media are under pressure. In this volume, major scholars chronicle South Africa’s achievements and challenges since the transition. The contributions, all previously unpublished, represent the state of the art in the study of South African politics, economics, law, and social policy.

Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War Against Apartheid

Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the War Against Apartheid PDF Author: Alan Wieder
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1583673563
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
Ruth First and Joe Slovo, husband and wife, were leaders of the war to end apartheid in South Africa. Communists, scholars, parents, and uncompromising militants, they were the perfect enemies for the white police state. Together they were swept up in the growing resistance to apartheid, and together they experienced repression and exile. Their contributions to the liberation struggle, as individuals and as a couple, are undeniable. Ruth agitated tirelessly for the overthrow of apartheid, first in South Africa and then from abroad, and Joe directed much of the armed struggle carried out by the famous Umkhonto we Sizwe. Only one of them, however, would survive to see the fall of the old regime and the founding of a new, democratic South Africa. This book, the first extended biography of Ruth First and Joe Slovo, is a remarkable account of one couple and the revolutionary moment in which they lived. Alan Wieder’s deeply researched work draws on the usual primary and secondary sources but also an extensive oral history that he has collected over many years. By weaving the documentary record together with personal interviews, Wieder portrays the complexities and contradictions of this extraordinary couple and their efforts to navigate a time of great tension, upheaval, and revolutionary hope.

Why Do Elections Matter in Africa?

Why Do Elections Matter in Africa? PDF Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110841723X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
A radical new approach to understanding Africa's elections: explaining why politicians, bureaucrats and voters so frequently break electoral rules.

Democratic Experiments in Africa

Democratic Experiments in Africa PDF Author: Michael Bratton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521556125
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Appendix: The Data Set.

The UDF

The UDF PDF Author: Jeremy Seekings
Publisher: New Africa Books
ISBN: 9780864864031
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
A history of the organization that was central to South Africa's transition to democracy. Highly acclaimed by Professor Gail Gerhart, this scholarly study should be a useful tool to anybody interested in the history of the UDF.

Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom PDF Author: Nelson Mandela
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0759521042
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 598

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Book Description
"Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand history – and then go out and change it." –President Barack Obama Nelson Mandela was one of the great moral and political leaders of his time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. After his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela was at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is still revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. Long Walk to Freedom is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela told the extraordinary story of his life -- an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph. The book that inspired the major motion picture Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.