The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development

917 Pages·2018·10.33 MB·English

by  Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba

THE PALGRAVE HANDBOOK
OF AFRICAN POLITICS,
GOVERNANCE AND
DEVELOPMENT
Edited by
Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba and Toyin Falola
The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics,
Governance and Development
Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba • Toyin Falola
Editors
The Palgrave Handbook
of African Politics,
Governance and
Development
Editors
Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba Toyin Falola
Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute Department of History
University of South Africa University of Texas at Austin
Johannesburg, South Africa Austin, Texas, USA
ISBN 978-1-349-95231-1 ISBN 978-1-349-95232-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95232-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017953059
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To Professor Mahmood Mamdani for his intellectual vision
and
To President Thabo Mbeki for his political vision
P
reface
There is an inextricable link between politics, governance and development.
This is because the nature of politics affects the quality of governance, which
inevitably determines development outcomes. In almost six decades of moves
towards political independence, politics, governance and development in Africa
have evolved and morphed into their contemporary position. Politics in Africa
has been defined by the antinomies of liberal and radical thoughts, with the
former having the upper hand. In the 1960s, discourse on politics was largely
determined by the theory of political development, which emanated from the
modernization school. In this context, liberal theorists such as Samuel
Huntington, Sidney Verba, Jason Finkle and Richard Gamble considered newly
independent countries in Africa as arenas for contestation over political power
in ways that made conflicts inevitable. In the perspectives of these scholars, lack
of hegemony among the elites undermined the capacity for forming legitimate
political authority. Consequently, the military was considered the most cohe-
sive, disciplined and modernized institution capable of presiding over the affairs
of the newly independent countries. Thus, political infighting among the
nationalists who led African countries to independence provided a convenient
excuse for the military to strike and take over power. From the first military
coup in Egypt in 1952 to the Togo coup of 1963, African countries became a
hotbed of coups and countercoups for the next four decades.
The Cold War also shaped the politics of Africa in the first two decades of
independence in ways that saw the two main rival powers contesting for space
and relevance in Africa. To a great extent, politics in Africa during this time was
shaped by the two competing ideologies of Socialism and Capitalism, with the
former having footholds in countries that pledged allegiance to the former
Soviet Union and the latter being countries that had the West, represented by
the United States of America and Britain, as their base of support.
From the 1980s, discourses on African politics have centered around state
formation, the state’s capacity to deliver public good, the development and
entrenchment of institutions, the role of the state in the economy, as well as the
vii
viii PREFACE
nature and the character of political elites. Even in the post-independence era,
the state still functions essentially as an instrument of extraction for the political
elites. Following on the heels of the key arguments of the dependence theory
that the Third World should delink from the core capitalist countries, African
countries formed various alignments with other countries in the global South
from the 1950s. In the light of the Bandung conference of 1955, African coun-
tries joined other countries in the South to take a non-aligned position on the
raging Cold War of the time. However, the reality of the search for develop-
ment aid and the politics of raw material extraction compelled many of the
countries to be aligned one way or the other.
Notwithstanding the relative success of the postcolonial state in establishing
state-owned enterprises to generate revenue and employ millions of citizens,
the commodity crisis of the 1970s and the early 1980s led to the collapse of
these companies. The resulting debt crisis necessitated the intervention of the
Bretton Woods institutions, namely the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. Founded on the neoliberal principle of market efficiency, these
organizations identified the state as the main culprit in the socio-economic
problems that faced African countries. Consequently, they recommended the
rolling back of the state and the primacy of the market in the management of
the economy. It was in this context that the idea of good governance came to
dominate discourses on politics and development in Africa. From this perspec-
tive, the need to protect the market necessitated the observance of certain prin-
ciples to which the state must adhere. These included observance of rule of law,
protection of property rights, an efficient court system and independence of the
Central Bank, among others. Beyond mere policy advice, acceptance and adop-
tion of these prescriptions were made contingent to qualification to receive
external aid from both bilateral and multilateral agencies. It was also in this
context that the third wave of democracy swept across the continent. Despite
the tone of finality that underpinned these policy prescriptions, the scorecard in
terms of nation-building, democratic consolidation and inclusive development
in Africa has fallen below average as the continent continues to dominate the
league of least developed countries in all indexes of human development.
As the search for the most appropriate political arrangement which is capa-
ble of fostering socio-economic development in Africa continues, this hand-
book is a modest contribution to the debates on how the past encounter with
the West in forms of colonialism, neocolonialism and coloniality as well as the
internal contradictions of the political milieu on the continent have stifled the
realization of the massive potential for accelerated development.
Contributors to this volume went beyond the niceties of political, economic
and social theories and sophisticated methodologies to engage with history and
how it has continued to impact on the contemporary experiences of African
countries and its peoples. They also went beyond fixation with the past and the
present and look to what the future holds for socio-economic and political
development on the continent. The uniqueness of this volume lies in its multi-
disciplinarity as contributors include scholars from various disciplines such as
PREFAC E ix
political science, history, economics, international relations, philosophy, educa-
tion, sociology and political economy. Although they share different views and
perspectives, their contributions have further stimulated our minds and
enhanced our understanding of the challenges that the continent continues to
face with regard to politics, governance and development. While the analyses
of these scholars will no doubt help in shaping knowledge in these areas of
study, their recommendations will assist policymakers in making informed and
high-quality policy choices that can help to ameliorate the current and future
challenges confronting the continent and its peoples.
c
ontents
1 Introduction: Contextualizing the Debates
on Politics, Governance and Development 1
Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba and Toyin Falola
Part I Theories and Concepts 33
2 Competing Theories and Concepts on Politics, Governance,
and Development 35
Wanjala S. Nasong’o
3 Theory of the Crises of the State 57
Ogenga Otunnu
4 Post-colonialism: Theoretical Foundations
and Relevance to African Politics 71
Godwin Onuoha
5 Decoloniality as a Combative Ontology
in African Development 83
William Mpofu
6 Theories of Social Change and Development in Africa 103
Augustine Okechukwu Agugua
7 Theoretical Foundations of Nation-Building 123
Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi
xi
xii CONTENTS
Part II History and Contexts of Politics, Governance,
Politics, and Development 135
8 Pre-colonial Political Institutions:
Relevance for Contemporary Africa 137
Elizabeth A. Eldredge
9 Politics and Society in Pre-colonial Africa: Implications
for Governance in Contemporary Times 159
Alinah K. Segobye
10 Settler and Non-settler Colonialism in Africa 173
Adelaja Odutola Odukoya
11 Nationalism in Africa: Concepts, Types and Phases 187
Maurice N. Amutabi
12 Nationalism and Political Independence in Africa 203
James Olusegun Adeyeri
Part III The Military in Politics 217
13 Theories of Military in African Politics 219
G.S. Mmaduabuchi Okeke
14 Coups and Countercoups in Africa 243
Richard Obinna Iroanya
15 Military and Transition Politics 259
Rotimi Ajayi and Yusuf Ibrahim
16 Civil–Military Relations in Africa 277
Browne Onuoha
Part IV Identity Politics, Conflict, and Development 289
17 Politics of Identity and the Crisis
of Nation-Building in Africa 291
Ikenna Mike Alumona and Stephen Nnaemeka Azom