Africa: A Call for Papers

DEVELOPMENT POLICY MANAGEMENT FORUM (DPMF)

A Call for Papers on
“Political Culture, Governance and the State in Africa”

To be discussed at a DPMF Conference at the end of February 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya. Papers must reach DPMF by 20th December, 2008. A review committee will select papers to be presented at the conference. DPMF will invite to the conference writers of the selected papers and will cover their fare and accommodation. Papers should be emailed to Christine Wangari at: - [email][email protected]

African countries will continue to be bedeviled by violent conflicts (of various types), human rights violations, ineffective and personalized political parties, some form of economic growth, increasing poverty, deepening and extreme inequality and deepening aid dependency - all clearly pointing to the absence of democratic governance (regardless of the various forms of existing liberal democracies in African countries) and failed economic development. After more than forty years of post colonial self-rule, this condition and the governance system, needs serious reflection.

Clearly there is a strong relationship between the nature of society in each country with on the one hand the evolving political cultures and on the other with the nature of the African states. The forty years experience since independence indicates that Africa is still searching for its own governance system acceptable to ALL its people and not simply the political elite and a section of the “middle class”. At the beginning of independence most countries inherited the parliamentary system from the British or the Presidential system from the French. In the 1970s these were abandoned for a one party or military rule which continued to the early 1990s. Through internal and external pressure these were abandoned for a return to the multiparty system. During the past 15 years serious doubts has emerged as to the suitability of the this multi-party liberal democracy despite strong Western pressure for its retention as being the most viable and suitable for Africa as well as the claim that it is a universal governance system. These African doubts have led to an extensive discussion and discourse on the nature of the African States we have or should have.

For example do we have liberal democratic states as recommended/ required by the WB/UN/EU/US? Do South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, have liberal democratic states? Is there anywhere in Africa a socialist state as desired by Nyerere and which he attempted to create in Tanzania? Are we moving towards a developmental state as advocated by Mkandawire? Or a social state as advocated by Olukoshi, or a human rights state as supported by Mutunga? Despite the very strong Western pressure, no African state today can be considered to be a liberal democratic state as per the Western definition of such a state!(According to the title of a new book by Fareed Zakariya, Newsweek Editor, the US has what he calls Illiberal Democracy). Nor can the existing states be described as developmental, social, socialist or human rights states. These are desired states, advocated for but do not exist in reality. Essentially therefore there is considerable confusion as to the exact nature of the African state we have today and consequently the nature of the governance system in Africa. There are genuine, serious and often correct critique of the existing states – but such critique have not changed nor improved the undemocratic/authoritarian nature of most African states.

On the other hand the nature of African societies which have emerged from colonialism, are extremely diverse culturally and the post independence governments have not been able to manage this diversity by creating cohesion and national unity. Indeed the post independence states have deepened as well as created hostility between communities within the countries - hostility partly stemming from colonial divide and rule policies, but also over unequal distribution of resources and power since independence.

Over forty years of this form of development has led to the emergence of various forms of political cultures which have shaped both the states and the general governance system to be what they are. It is the nature of this political culture – its relations to society/economy and the state – which needs to be carefully studied and analyzed. For example in East Africa, the political cultures of Kenya, Tanzaniaand Uganda vary considerably despite having been ruled by the same colonial power – the British – and despite adopting liberal democracy! The differences can be related to the histories and nature of both the indigenous societies and the intensity of the colonial experience of each country.

Clearly it is necessary to carefully look at (a) the extent to which history and the indigenous social system and values of a country have generated /engendered its specific political culture, (b) what are the essential characteristics and core values of the evolved political culture whose framework has led to the emergence of large numbers of ever changing, ephemeral and personalized political parties and movements, and (c) how these parties/movements relate to and have affected the nature of both the state and the overall governance of the country.

The main challenge facing African countries as their governance system evolves, will depend on how the political elite change the political culture, particularly the way representation in the political system will relate to the nature of the diversity in society/country which will ensure “ethnic and class justice” - politically and economically. How this can be done given the entrenched market economies in African countries and the forces of globalization impacting on these economies, needs serious reflections by the researchers.

Papers are expected to make serious and detailed suggestions as to how the link between Culture and political parties can be managed or reformed to bring about a more representative political organization as well as better and more efficient states and deeper democratic governance. These suggestions should be oriented for advocacy by civil society organizations as part of the overall programmes for democratic reform in Africa. They should also be addressed to leaders of political parties, the political elite in general and to leaders of marginalized groups in society who are yearning for better representation and change.