Download or read book Constitutional Neopatrimonialism in Liberia written by Stephen H. Gobewole and published by . This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberia is a dysfunctional country as the result of its patronage practices, which include nepotism, bribery, and election fraud. Stephen H. Gobewole, who grew up in Liberia, explains how these corrupt practices have created a dysfunctional institution. He traces the history of the country and answers question such as: - How have corrupt political practices contributed to the country's poor economy? - Why has public corruption been allowed to persist for so long? - What similarities does Liberia share with other sub-Saharan African countries? - How have elections been manipulated throughout the years? Other topics include United States involvement in Liberia, why so many Liberian presidents continue to act unethically, and the country's civil war. The book provides empirical evidence, including statistical figures and charts, to demonstrate that the corrupt system in Liberia has led to abject poverty, lower living standards, national instability, and underdevelopment. Moreover, the author shares public policy proposals that would ease problems, including the effective enforcement of anticorruption regulations.
Download or read book Liberia written by Mary H. Moran and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberia, a small West African country that has been wracked by violence and civil war since 1989, seems a paradoxical place in which to examine questions of democracy and popular participation. Yet Liberia is also the oldest republic in Africa, having become independent in 1847 after colonization by an American philanthropic organization as a refuge for "Free People of Color" from the United States. Many analysts have attributed the violent upheaval and state collapse Liberia experienced in the 1980s and 1990s to a lack of democratic institutions and long-standing patterns of autocracy, secrecy, and lack of transparency. Liberia: The Violence of Democracy is a response, from an anthropological perspective, to the literature on neopatrimonialism in Africa. Mary H. Moran argues that democracy is not a foreign import into Africa but that essential aspects of what we in the West consider democratic values are part of the indigenous African traditions of legitimacy and political process. In the case of Liberia, these democratic traditions include institutionalized checks and balances operating at the local level that allow for the voices of structural subordinates (women and younger men) to be heard and be effective in making claims. Moran maintains that the violence and state collapse that have beset Liberia and the surrounding region in the past two decades cannot be attributed to ancient tribal hatreds or neopatrimonial leaders who are simply a modern version of traditional chiefs. Rather, democracy and violence are intersecting themes in Liberian history that have manifested themselves in numerous contexts over the years. Moran challenges many assumptions about Africa as a continent and speaks in an impassioned voice about the meanings of democracy and violence within Liberia.
Download or read book The Emergence of Autocracy in Liberia written by Amos Sawyer and published by ICS Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book illuminates the political process that over the course of six generations brought about the personalization of authority in Liberia; and it links that system of personal rule to the highly centralized structures of the postcolonial state. The book concludes by exploring the future of self-govenance in Liberia and all of postcolonial Africa. The author became president of the Republic of Liberia after the civil war 1989-90.
Download or read book The Failure Of The Centralized State written by James Wunsch and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-11 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an outcome of the workshop on Political Theory and Policy Analysis, held in Indiana, during the 1985/86. It seeks to explains why the centralized African state has failed and discusses the breakdown of social processes indirectly caused by the policies of the centralized state.
Download or read book Civil War and State Formation written by Felix Gerdes and published by Campus Verlag. This book was released on 2013-05 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberia was the scene of two devastating civil wars since late 1989 and became widely considered a failed state. By contrast, the country is frequently described as a success story since the international professional Ellen Johnson Sirleaf assumed the presidency following democratic elections in 2005. The book investigates the political economy of civil war and democratic peace and puts the developments into historical perspective. The author argues that the civil wars did not represent the breakdown of the state but exhibited dynamics characteristic of state formation. His analysis of continuity and change in Liberia's political evolution details both political progress and persistent structural deficits of the polity. Book jacket.
Download or read book Democracy in Africa written by Nic Cheeseman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa written by J. Shola Omotola and published by Nordic Africa Institute. This book was released on 2011 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Discussion Paper is based on a conceptual and analytical reading of cases of unconstitutional change of government in Africa. It provides a deep and up-to-date exploration of the prospects for democratic consolidation on the continent against the backdrop of an upsurge in unconstitutional changes of government. Rather than focus only on the internal threats to democracy in Africa, the author also analyses the role of neighbouring states, regional organisations and hegemonic forces within the international community in advancing or limiting democracy. In this regard, this work sheds light on why the pursuit of the liberal democratic project in Africa has so far appeared to alienate ordinary people, while providing space for dominant elites to tamper with democratic institutions and processes, which then work against popular participation and democratic development. This paper is essential reading for scholars, policy practitioners, analysts and all those with an interest in the prospects for democracy in Africa.
Download or read book Decentralizing the State written by Kathleen O'Neill and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-06-06 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, first published in 2005, explores the location and dynamics of power within the state, focusing on a recent wave of decentralizing reforms that have swept across both developed and developing countries in recent years. Variation in the timing of reform across countries only vaguely relates to the genesis of an international consensus pushed by big lenders and development banks or the reemergence of democracy in decentralizing countries. The book develops a theory linking decentralization's adoption to the electoral concerns of political parties: decentralization represents a desirable strategy for parties whose support at subnational levels appears more secure than their prospects in national elections. It examines this argument against experiences in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela and speculates on how recent political changes may affect decentralization's shape and extent in coming years.
Download or read book African Conflicts and Informal Power written by Mats Utas and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2012-09-13 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals. Through a variety of in-depth case studies, including the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, this comprehensive volume shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent’s conflict areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that without a proper understanding of the impact of these networks, attempts to formalize African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain.
Download or read book Towards Social Stability and Democratic Governance in Central Eurasia written by I. Morozova and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2005-11-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through invasions, migrations, trade and cultural exchange, developments in Central Eurasia have, for millennia, impacted upon the history of both Europe and Asia. For the last three hundred years, Central Eurasia has been the stage upon which great empires clashed. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Central Eurasia has once again emerged as a region of geo-political concern with various new international actors involved: the USA, international monetary organizations, strategic alliances, TNCs, NGOs, regional blocks, as well as criminal groups and ethno-religious movements. The new ‘centrality’ of Central Eurasia brings new security threats to the region’s population, to Europe and to the rest of the world. Repressive political regimes and marginalization of whole groups of the population inflame conflicts that spill across national borders. Migration to Europe, both legal and illegal, the illicit production and trade of drugs are the direct outcome of social-economic destabilization in Central Eurasia. Territorial disputes, border conflicts and competition for resources among the Central Eurasian ethnicities have become the unfortunate reality. Post-Soviet Central Eurasia, as a direct neighbor to the turbulent Middle East, is a potential playground for extremist movements: radical Islamic groups and terrorist organizations. The contributors to this book, coming from various theoretical schools and presenting innovative interdisciplinary approaches, provide their views on the socio-political challenges confronting the nine Central Eurasian states - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The book presents scientific discussions on the historical development of Central Eurasia and its socio-cultural legacies; Soviet and contemporary state organization, social transformation and communal structures; the current economic conditions as a precursor to social stability and development; and geo-political arrangements and political changes over the last two decades.
Download or read book African and Asian Studies written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 730 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Liberia s Civil War written by Adekeye Adebajo and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2002 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text aims to unravel the tangled web of the conflict by addressing questions including: why did Nigeria intervene in Liberia and remain committed throughout the seven-year civil war?; and to what extent was ECOMOG's intervention shaped by Nigeria's hegemonic aspirations.
Download or read book Accounting in Africa written by Venancio Tauringana and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2012-11-21 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The objective of Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies is to raise the level of interest in the specific problems of accounting in emerging economies; and increase awareness of real issues, so that accounting in these countries will not just be seen as a matter of copying what is done in the industrialized countries.
Download or read book Stateness and Democracy in East Asia written by Aurel Croissant and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-21 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparative analysis of case studies across East Asia provides new insights into the relationship between state building, stateness, and democracy.
Download or read book Continental Impoverishment written by Stephen H. Gobewole and published by Dog Ear Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa is a continent of contrasts, with some of the lowest literacy rates and nations with the highest number of people living in poverty. Yet beginning a few hundred years ago, this same continent was rich in resources coveted by more advanced nations, today’s wealthy Western and European countries. African minerals, raw materials, and even humans were traded for cash or services that benefited African leaders, families, or tribes, but this wealth was not distributed across the general population. The combination of resource extraction, neoliberal policies, and patrimonial regimes is the foundation for the abject poverty and poor literacy that exists in many African nations today. This book uses data provided by highly regarded international organizations, such as the Index of Economic Freedom, The Global Innovation Index, The Intelligence Unit Democracy Index, and Corruption Perception Index. This research supports the theory that Africa’s perpetual poverty is a result of the extractive transfer of natural resources, the implementation of neoliberal trade policies, and the ongoing support of bad governance and poor leadership.
Download or read book Political Topographies of the African State written by Catherine Boone and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-10-27 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study brings Africa into the mainstream of studies of state-formation in agrarian societies. Territorial integration is the challenge: institutional linkages and political deals that bind center and periphery are the solutions. In African countries, rulers at the center are forced to bargain with regional elites to establish stable mechanisms of rule and taxation. Variation in regional forms of social organization make for differences in the interests and political strength of regional leaders who seek to maintain or enhance their power vis-a-vis their followers and subjects, and also vis-a-vis the center.
Download or read book Warlord Democrats in Africa written by Anders Themnér and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2017-04-15 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Post-war democratization has been identified as a crucial mechanism to build peace in war-ridden societies, supposedly allowing belligerents to compete through ballots rather than bullets. A byproduct of this process, however, is that military leaders often become an integral part of the new democratic system, using resources and networks generated from the previous war to dominate the emerging political landscape. The crucial and thus-far overlooked question to be addressed, therefore, is what effect the inclusion of ex-militaries into electoral politics has on post-war security. Can 'warlord democrats' make a positive contribution by shepherding their wartime constituencies to support the building of peace and democracy, or are they likely to use their electoral platforms to sponsor political violence and keep war-affected communities mobilized through aggressive discourses? This important volume, containing a wealth of fresh empirical detail and theoretical insight, and focussing on some of Africa's most high-profile political figures – from Paul Kagame to Riek Machar to Afonso Dhlakama – represents a crucial intervention in the literature of post-war democratization.
