COURSE
OUTLINE AND READING LIST FOR POLI 654: DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
University of Ghana
Department of Political Science
Second Semester, 2018/2019 Academic Year
Wed: 10am-12pm; DLR 8
Lecturer: Dr. Maame A.A. Gyekye-Jandoh
Office: HOD’s Office, Political Science Dept.
Office Hours: Mon. and Wed.
11am-1:30 pm; and by appointment
E-mail: mgyekyej@yahoo.com;
mgyekye-jandoh@ug.edu.gh
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Course Title
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Democracy and
Governance in Africa
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Course Code
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POLI 654
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Purpose
and Objectives
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Course
Description and Objectives:
Over the last two decades and a half, African countries
have undergone changes that have been as profound as those that have affected
countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The most significant of these
changes has been the democratization processes in several African countries,
many of which have gone alongside economic and governance reforms. This
course will explore democracy and governance in Africa through a look at a
series of changes or transitions - from authoritarian to democratic
governance and variants of it, and from state to private sector driven
economies- that have taken place in countries as diverse as Ghana, Nigeria,
Rwanda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda.
The course will first survey the state of democratic
theory and consider its relevance in contemporary Africa, survey the
literature on electoral politics and party systems in Africa and their
practice, and examine economic governance and reforms that have taken place
in several African countries since the 1990s.
In addition, the course will critically examine the link
between Africa’s development and democracy and good governance in Africa,
with an emphasis on the importance of vibrant civil societies and improved gender
relations. Finally, the current state of democracy and governance in Africa,
and prospects for their future, will be discussed through the theoretical
underpinnings, but especially, through a closer look at selected case
studies.
Course Requirements and Assignments: The assessment for the course is
based on the following:
Class Attendance and
Participation: 5%
The course is driven by research and
discussion and its success requires the active participation of students.
Students should be prepared to be called upon to present their
understandings, questions and views concerning the topic and the readings of
the class/course. This includes sharing, either in full or in part, their
analytical papers in the class.
Both quantity and quality of
contributions are taken into account. Good quality active participation
should reflect the student’s knowledge and critical understanding of the
readings, their enthusiasm for participating in a seminar and their ability
to engage in constructive discussion with other students.
2 Analytical Papers (6-8
pages each) and Presentations (15% each): 45%
Students are required to write three analytical papers during the
course, each of which should be 6-8 pages size 12 font and double-spaced.
Each paper is worth 15% of the final term mark; thus the three papers are
worth 45% of the final mark. Presentation of the analytical paper will form
part of the 15% allotted for each paper.
The choice of weeks for which analytical papers are
written is at the student’s discretion.
The analytical papers are a critical reflection of your
reading of the assigned texts in advance of having discussed the texts; they
can also be referred to as short thought-pieces or reading responses or mini
review-papers. The analytical papers should not be summaries, but critical
assessments of the readings. Simply put, they should contain your reactions
(thoughts, questions, agreements, disagreements, etc.) to the readings. They
are essentially a collection of well thought-out reactions or analysis of the
readings written in an essay style.
Final Exam on all topics
covered: 50%
This
will be an in-class exam of critical essay writing on questions covering
topics examined in the course. The exact format will be given in the course
of the semester.
Course Expectations:
1. The Course Outline/Syllabus lists both required
reading and further reading. You will be expected to have completed
all the required readings for the week before you attend class for that week.
The reading loads are not especially heavy but you should aim to read them
carefully and reflectively. Before approaching each reading think about what
the key questions are for the week and about how the questions from this week
relate to what you know from previous weeks. Then skim over the reading to
get a sense of the themes it covers, the countries, the periods, the methods
and, before reading further, jot down on a piece of paper what questions you
hope the reading will be able to answer for you: what do you hope to be able
to learn from reading the article? Next, read the introduction and
conclusion. It is very rare to find a piece of writing that you agree with
entirely. So as you come across issues that you disagree with or are not
convinced by, write them down and bring them along to class for discussion.
2. Students will be required to
listen to Focus on Africa every day, Monday-Friday http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/default.stm.
It runs for 40 minutes and will keep students well up to date with what is
going on in the continent. While there will be no test or other way of
checking whether students will do this, the content of Focus on Africa will
be treated as background knowledge for class discussions. There is no excuse
not to be able to keep up with the news: Regular news sources available on-
line include but are not limited to:
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/default.stm
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http://allafrica.com/
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http://www.africanews.org
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Reading List and Topics for POLI 654:
Democracy and Governance in Africa
1. The State of Democratic Theory and Its Relevance in Africa (Weeks 2 and 3)
J. A.
Schumpeter. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy.
New York: Harper. 1950.
S.M.
Lipset. Political Man: The Social Basis
of Politics. New York: Doubleday. 1960.
R. Dahl.
Polyarchy, Participation and Opposition.
New Haven: Yale University Press. 1971.
Grugel,
Jean and Matthew Louis Bishop, Democratization:
a Critical Introduction, Second edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2014.
C.
Young, “The End of the Post-Colonial State in Africa? Reflections on Changing
African Political Dynamics”, African Affairs, 2004, 103: 23-49.
Shapiro,
Ian. 2003. “Introduction”. In The State of Democratic Theory. Princeton:
Princeton University Press: 1-9.
“Reconsidering
the State of Democratic Theory” in Shapiro, Ian. 2003. The State of
Democratic Theory. Princeton: Princeton University Press: 146-152.
Schmitter,
Philippe C. and Terry Lynn Karl. 1991. “What Democracy is... and is not.” Journal
of
Democracy 2(3): 75-88.
Diamond
Larry and Leonardo Morlino. 2004. “The Quality of Democracy: An Overview.”
Journal
of Democracy 15(4): 20-31.
2. Transitions to Democracy in Africa: What
Kind of Democracy Is It? (Weeks 3 and 4)
C.
Young, “The Third Wave of Democratization in Africa: Ambiguities and
Contradictions” in E. Gyimah- Boadi, ed. Democratic Reform in Africa”.
L.
Diamond, “Thinking About Hybrid Regimes”, Journal of Democracy, 13, 2
(April 2002): 22-34
S.
Levitsky and L.A. Way. “The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism”. Journal of Democracy. 13. (April 2002).
S.
Huntington. The Third Wave:
Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press. 1991.
J.
Herbst. “Political Liberalization in Africa after Ten Years”. Comparative Politics. 33.3: 357-375.
2001.
L.
Diamond. “Africa: The Second Wind of Change”. Times Literary Supplement.
London. 4707 (July 2, 1993).
G.
O’Donnell and P. Schmitter. Transitions
from Authoritarian Rule. 1986.
3. Electoral Politics and African Party
Systems (Weeks 5 and 6)
S. I.
Lindberg. Democracy and Elections in
Africa. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2006.
S.
Mozaffar, “The puzzle of African party Systems”, Party Politics, 11, 4,
2005: 399-421.
M. A. A.
Gyekye-Jandoh. “Elections and Democracy
in Africa since 2000: An Update on the Pertinent Issues”. In Asare, B.,
Frempong, A.K.D. eds. Selected Issues in
Ghana’s Democracy, vol. 1. Accra: Digi Books, 2017: 11-28.
M.A. A.
Gyekye-Jandoh. “Electoral Reform and Gradual Democratization in Africa: The
Case of Ghana”. African Journal of Social
Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2013: 74-92.
J.R.A. Ayee. Ghana's
elections of 7 December 2016: A post-mortem
South African Journal of
International Affairs Vol.
24, Iss. 3, 2017.
4. Economic Governance and Reform in Africa
(Weeks 7 and 8)
E.
Gyimah-Boadi. Ed. Democratic Reform in
Africa: The Quality of Progress. Lynne Rienner. 2004.
N. van
de Walle, “Economic Reform: Patterns and Constraints” in E. Gyimah-Boadi, ed., Democratic
Reform in Africa , Lynne Rienner, 2004: 29-64.
J.
Stiglitz, “Democratizing the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank:
Governance and Accountability”.
B.
Sadasivam. 1997. “The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Women: A Governance
and Human Rights Agenda,” in: Human Rights Quarterly. 19 (3). http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/human_rights_quarterly/v019/19.3sadasivam.html
5. Democracy, Good Governance, and
Africa’s Development (9 and 10)
Joseph R. A. Ayee (2013): The Developmental
State Experiment in Africa: the Experiences of Ghana and South
Africa, The Round Table: The Commonwealth
Journal of International Affairs, 102(3), DOI:10.1080/00358533.2013.794577
Alidu, S. and Gyekye-Jandoh, M.A.A.
(2016). Civil Society and Democratic Governance in Ghana: Emerging Roles and
Challenges. Contemporary Journal of
African Studies, 4(1), 1-24.
Joseph,
Richard. 2003. “Africa: States in Crisis.” Journal of Democracy, 14(3):
159-170.
Aili
Tripp, 1994. “Gender, Political Participation, and the Transformation of
Associational Life in Uganda and Tanzania.” African Studies Review 37 (1):
107-131. 1994. [Reprinted in Peter Lewis: 232-257, 1998.]
6. Selected Case Studies: The State of
Democracy and Governance in Africa since 2000 (in the 21st Century)
(Weeks 11 and 12)
Sandbrook,
S. 1996. “Transitions without Consolidation: Democratization in Six African
Cases.” Third World Quarterly, 171(1): 69-88.
Huntington,
Samuel P. 1991. “Democracy’s Third Wave.” Journal of Democracy 2(2):
12-34.
Gyekye-Jandoh, M A. A. and Asare, B.
(2015). The Dynamics of Civil Society-Government Interface in Ghana: 1980-2010.
African Journal of Democracy and
Governance, 2 (3 and 4), 53-75.
Asare,
B & Frempong, A. (Eds).(2017). Selected
issues in Ghana’s democracy, volume 1. Tema- Ghana: Digibooks
7. The Future of Democracy and
Governance in Africa (Week 13)
Dahl,
Robert A. 1999. “The Shifting Boundaries of Democratic Governments.” Social
Research 66(3): 915-31.
Della
Porta, Donatella. 2005. “Globalizations and Democracy.” Democratization 12(5):
668-685.
NB. Other readings may be assigned and some readings replaced
at the discretion of the lecturer, where necessary.
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