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 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 White Americans in Black Africa written by Eunjin Park and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2002. This compelling book brings to light a disillusioned experiment of biracial missionary labours that were expected to carry the beliefs and cultural values of nineteenth century white Americans to the black continent of Africa.
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 Liberia under Samuel Doe 1980 1985 written by Yekutiel Gershoni and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-03-28 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe executed a bloody coup that put an end to the Americo-Liberian minority regime in Liberia, transforming Africa’s first republic into a military dictatorship. In Liberia under Samuel Doe, 1980-1985: The Politics of Personal Rule, Yekutiel Gershoni examines the evolution and effects of Samuel K. Doe’s reign in Liberia. Gershoni shows Doe’s path to absolute power, corruption, and dictatorship and the economic crises and political turmoil that ensued, even after his murder in 1990. Liberia under Samuel Doe also examines the role of the United States as Liberia’s closest ally, detailing how Doe managed to attract American diplomatic and military support due to U.S. interests in the Cold War. Through in-depth research, primary sources, and interviews with diplomats, politicians, and activists, Gershoni carefully details the timeline of Doe’s rise to power and the lasting effects of his dictatorial legacy.
Download or read book Militocracy vs Democracy in West Africa 1960s 1990s written by Godfrey Mwakikagile and published by New Africa Press. This book was released on with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a historical narrative and analysis of the unconstitutional changes of government in most West African countries where military rule became institutionalised more than in any other part of the continent from the sixties to the nineties. There is no specific reason why the region has suffered from usurpation of power by soldiers more than any other part of the continent, besides the desire by soldiers to rule, recently demonstrated by coups in Mali in 2020 and 2021, Guinea in 2021, and Burkina Faso in 2022. Governments in West Africa are no more unstable or weaker than their counterparts in other parts of the continent. Overthrowing governments became a continental phenomenon when military rulers went on to legitimise their their seizure of power through rigged elections by turning themselves into civilian rulers. They “civilianised” themselves, not only to claim that they were no longer military rulers but were democratically elected leaders; a manipulation of power that triggered counter-coups by their opponents to end their rule, resulting in many deaths in many countries where this violent change took place. Military rule in Africa started soon after independence in the sixties. The most ambitious goals in the postcolonial era were consolidation of the state and nation building with varying degrees of success in different parts of the continent. Military rulers proved to be no better than their civilian counterparts they had replaced. In most cases, they were even worse and used coercive power of the state to perpetuate themselves in office just as their civilian counterparts did. The result was consolidation of the state as an instrument of oppression, the most oppressive apparatus being the executive branch itself, invested with all the powers, which evolved into the imperial presidency, a phenomenon that persists in some African countries legitimised through rigged elections enabling leaders to remain in office under the guise of democracy “in the name of the people.”
Download or read book Reconstructing the Authoritarian State in Africa written by George Klay Kieh, Jr. and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work seeks to examine the nature and dynamics of authoritarianism in Africa and to suggest ways in which the states covered in the book can be democratically reconstituted. In 1990, a wave of euphoria greeted the "third wave of democratization" that swept across the African Continent. The repression-wearied subalterns were hopeful that the "third wave" would have set into motion the process of democratically reconstituting the authoritarian state on the continent. More than two decades thereafter, although some progress has been made, by and large, the authoritarian state remains the dominant construct in the region. Even in some of the countries in which democratic transitions have taken place, the process of democratic consolidation remains an elusive quest as these states are sandwiched between authoritarianism and democracy. Against this background, the purpose of this book is to examine the travails of the authoritarian state in Africa, including the Herculean task to democratically reconstruct it. In order to do this, six of Africa’s perennial authoritarian states—Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Liberia, Rwanda and Uganda—are used as the case studies. The book has two major objectives. First, the various chapters probe the nature and dynamics of authoritarianism in Africa. Second, the chapters suggest ways in which the various authoritarian states covered in the book can be democratically reconstituted.
Download or read book Liberian Democracy written by Thomas Kaydor, Jr. and published by Author House. This book was released on 2014-09-27 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development is stagnated, and poverty is widespread in Liberia because the Legislature is weak, corrupt and greedy, thereby pursuing self-interested agenda at the detriment of the general public. The Judiciary is also corrupt and subservient to the Executive, which dominates and controls state resources. This writer explains why the Legislature and Judiciary are weak, corrupt, inefficient and ineffective. He proposes how these dormant branches of government could become more effective and robust to curb presidential dominance by upholding the principle of checks and balances in Liberia's democracy. He also argues that mass illiteracy leads electorates to electing incompetent legislators. The writer further points out that widespread illiteracy undermines most of the citizens' capacity to critically and rationally analyse National Policies. Hence, they usually fail to hold their legislators or government accountable. The writer maintains that to alleviate poverty and transform Liberia into a developmental state, the Legislature needs to assume its role by becoming robust, efficient and effective. It must promulgate pro-poor laws and policies intended to alleviate widespread poverty. This will engender national development. He concludes that the National Legislature, through prudent budgetary allocation, needs to promote infrastructural development, the right to food, equitable access to quality education, healthcare, safe drinking water, and public housing.
Download or read book Charlatans Spirits and Rebels in Africa written by Tim Kelsall and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-01 with total page 784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Stephen Ellis died in July 2015, African Studies lost one of its most prolific, provocative and celebrated scholars. Given the scale and uniqueness of his contribution, it is perhaps surprising that a collection of his writings did not appear during his lifetime. It is now possible to bring such a volume to the public. With an introduction by Tim Kelsall and an afterword by Jean-François Bayart, this collection aims to provide scholars and students with an introduction to the main themes in Ellis' work. These revolved around the roles of religion, criminality and violence in African society and politics--preoccupations that also informed his interpretation of African rebellions and resistance movements. The volume spans more than three decades of scholarship; case studies from six countries; highly-cited and lesser-known articles; and a sampling of works intended for public engagement as well as an academic audience. It will serve as a reader for African Politics and History, and as an invitation to students to delve deeper into Stephen Ellis' oeuvre.
Download or read book On Mamba Station written by James G. Antal and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Competitive Authoritarianism written by Steven Levitsky and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-16 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.
Download or read book Missions for Science written by David McBride and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historical analysis explores how disease control aid from the U.S., along with shifting environmental factors, affected the development of Atlantic regions with populations of predominantly African ancestry: the southern United States, the Panama Canal Zone, Haiti, and Liberia. McBride (African American history, Pennsylvania State U.) poses questions such as "what specific technologies and medical resources were transferred by U.S. institutions to black population centers, and why?" McBride also discusses how those regions, with historical ties to the U.S., independently envisioned and utilized technology and science in their formation. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of the History of Settler Colonialism written by Edward Cavanagh and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-08-12 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of the History of Settler Colonialism examines the global history of settler colonialism as a distinct mode of domination from ancient times to the present day. It explores the ways in which new polities were established in freshly discovered ‘New Worlds’, and covers the history of many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, South Africa, Liberia, Algeria, Canada, and the USA. Chronologically as well as geographically wide-reaching, this volume focuses on an extensive array of topics and regions ranging from settler colonialism in the Neo-Assyrian and Roman empires, to relationships between indigenes and newcomers in New Spain and the early Mexican republic, to the settler-dominated polities of Africa during the twentieth century. Its twenty-nine inter-disciplinary chapters focus on single colonies or on regional developments that straddle the borders of present-day states, on successful settlements that would go on to become powerful settler nations, on failed settler colonies, and on the historiographies of these experiences. Taking a fundamentally international approach to the topic, this book analyses the varied experiences of settler colonialism in countries around the world. With a synthesizing yet original introduction, this is a landmark contribution to the emerging field of settler colonial studies and will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the global history of imperialism and colonialism.
Download or read book Designing West Africa written by P. Schwab and published by Springer. This book was released on 2004-07-09 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many African nations are now described as 'fourth world nations', ones which essentially have no future. How could this have happened? Through the scope of the 1960's, the first decade of African independence, Peter Schwab presents a compelling and provocative answer to this question. Designing West Africa tells the story of a pivotal decade in African history, when the fate of the continent was decided. Focusing on the six most visible leaders of the period - painting detailed portraits of them both as leaders and as people - Schwab looks at how Africa served as a ground to play out larger international conflicts, namely the Cold War. He does not fall back on blaming non-African involvement for the failure to build a visible leadership for the continent; rather he critiques the African leaders themselves for their individual failings.
Download or read book West Africa s Security Challenges written by Adekeye Adebajo and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2004 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a context for understanding West Africa's security dilemmas, highlighting the link between failures of economic development, governance, and democratization on the one hand and military insecurity and violent conflicts on the other.
Download or read book The Circumstances Leading to the Underdevelopment of Liberia After More Than One Hundred Sixty Years of Independence written by Samuel K. Ngaima Sr. and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2016-08-26 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book identifies and analyzes the historical, political, cultural, and social stratification that created lacks of development in a country that has been independent for more than 160 years. The book reveals that the descendants of the freed American slaves treated the indigenous Liberians as second-class citizens and less than human beings. They and their forefathers were treated less than human beings while in slavery in America. These actions were identified as primary causes for the underdevelopment of the country. The author of this book traces and uncovers the unique formation of the country and subsequent leadership style and the social stratification as well as the Americo-Liberian oligarchic regime as hindrance for development of Africas first republic. The purpose of the book is to show to the Liberian people some of the major causes that led to the Liberian political and social conflict, which resulted into complete underdevelopment of the country and the level of poverty in the country. The findings of this book will help Liberians and other interested people to learn the lessons that when there are suppressions and oppressions in a society, those oppressed will revolt against their oppressors. The book concludes that Liberias inclusive participation can once again be restored provided the Americo-Liberians are prepared for the inclusion of the various ethnic groups. Finally, the book would like to recommend that only Liberians at home and abroad are the actual cornerstones for peace, national rehabilitation, reconstruction, and recovery. This book predicts that the successes in Liberia will not only create a stable environment for democracy in Liberia but will also have a profound level of development as well as impact on peace in the West African subregion, particularly the Mano River Union countries.
Download or read book Factors in the Liberian National Conflict Views of the Liberian Expatriates written by Dr. Samuel K. Ngaima Sr. and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2014-12-20 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book identified and analyzed the historical, political, cultural and social factors responsible for the Liberian National Conflicts, also known as the Liberian Civil Wars. These conflicts resulted in the destructions, genocide and divisiveness among the ethnic groups and increased refugee problems. The book traced and uncovered the historical, political, social, economic religious and cultural factors in the Liberian conflicts. It described as one of the prime factors, the unique formation of the Country and subsequent the leadership style and the social stratification for more than 140 years of Americo-Liberian oligarchic regime. The exclusions of the majority of the indigenous Liberians from the political and economic activities of the Country was identified as one of the factors to the conflict. The book revealed that nearly all of the 60 Liberian expatriates interviewed by the author considered as prime factors in the Liberian civil conflict, the perpetuation of Americo-Liberian governance over the majority indigenous Liberians for more than a century and the resulting disparities in political, educational and economic opportunities among the Liberian citizens.
