Democracy Works asks how we can learn to nurture, deepen and consolidate democracy in Africa. By analyzing transitions within and beyond the continent, the authors identify a 'democratic playbook' robust enough to withstand threats to free and fair elections. However, substantive democracy demands more than just regular polls. It is fundamentally about the inner workings of institutions, the rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and leadership in government and civil society. It is also about values and the welfare and well-being of its citizens, and demands local leadership with a plan for the country beyond simply winning the popular vote.

This volume addresses the political, economic and extreme demographic challenges that Africa faces. It is intended as a resource for members of civil society and as a guide for all who seek to enjoy the political and development benefits of democracy in the world's poorest continent. Finally, it is for donors and external actors who have to face critical decisions--especially after ill-fated electoral interventions such as Kenya 2017--about the future of observer missions and aid promoting democracy and good governance.

In an age of unprecedented world-wide prosperity, forty per cent of Africa's 600 million people exist on less than US $1 per day, and a third of its 53 states are affected by conflict.
The African Union (AU) is intended, in part, to mark a new beginning where Africans are more focused on the current issues they confront. In particular, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has been hailed by African leaders as an important new initiative in development that asks the Africans themselves to assume responsibility for fostering democracy, good governance, and conflict resolution.
Now is therefore an appropriate time to examine the prospects for African development and conflict resolution. Does NEPAD represent an approach that could at least provide some hope to ending Africa's poor economic performance and does it and the AU represent a new approach towards conflict resolution? Will NEPAD have a marked impact on the quality of political, economic and corporate governance in Africa? Or are NEPAD and the AU just two more grand proposals destined to die rather quickly?
This book provides a brief review of African development and security over the past three decades. It assesses the progress made by South Africa since 1994 and describes current Western approaches to Africa with a focus on how much opportunity these stances provide for countries south of the Sahara to develop comprehensive new ideas to address their problems. The book reviews NEPAD and the AU to gauge the potential of these initiatives to take advantage of Western policies and to address Africa's structural problems. It suggests what must be done for African countries to reverse their growth and security trajectories by asking if any African country will establish the prerequisites for sustained high-level growth.

This book provides a review of recent development in Africa. It reviews NEPAD and the AU and suggests what must be done for African countries to reverse their growth and security trajectories by asking if any African country will establish the prerequisites for sustained high-level growth.

Democracy Works asks how we can learn to nurture, deepen and consolidate democracy in Africa. By analysing transitions within and beyond the continent, the authors identify a 'democratic playbook' robust enough to withstand threats to free and fair elections. However, substantive democracy demands more than just regular polls. It is fundamentally about the inner workings of institutions, the rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and leadership in government and civil society. It is also about values and the welfare and well-being of its citizens, and demands local leadership with a plan for the country beyond simply winning the popular vote. This volume addresses the political, economic and extreme demographic challenges that Africa faces. It is intended as a resource for members of civil society and as a guide for all who seek to enjoy the political and development benefits of democracy in the world's poorest continent. Finally, it is for donors and external actors who have to face critical decisions--especially after ill-fated electoral interventions such as Kenya 2017--about the future of observer missions and aid promoting democracy and good governance.

Theories of international relations, assumed to be universally applicable, have failed to explain the creation of states in Africa. There, the interaction of power and space is dramatically different from what occurred in Europe. In "States and Power in Africa," Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective. Herbst's bold contention--that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent--is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything.

This revised edition includes a new preface in which the author links the enormous changes that have taken place in Africa over the past fifteen years to long-term state consolidation. The final chapter on policy prescriptions has also been revised to reflect the evolution of African and international responses to state failure.

Sub-Saharan Africa faces three big inter-related challenges over the next generation. It will double its population to two billion by 2045. By then more than half of Africans will be living in cities. And this group of mostly young people will be connected with each other and the world through mobile devices. Properly harnessed and planned for, this is a tremendously positive force for change. Without economic growth and jobs, it could prove a political and social catastrophe. Old systems of patronage and of muddling through will no longer work because of these population increases. Instead, if leaders want to continue in power, they will have to promote economic growth in a more dynamic manner. Making Africa Work is a first-hand account and handbook of how to ensure growth beyond commodities and create jobs in the continent.

The overwhelming challenge that South Africa faces, and has to date failed to address, is unemployment, which falls especially on African youths who were promised a better future after 1994. If the current unemployment challenge is not addressed, it will be impossible to sustainably lift many millions of people out of poverty. How South Africa Works reviews the country's major economic achievements over the past two decades. Through numerous interviews with politicians, business leaders and analysts, it examines the challenges and opportunities across key productive sectors -- including agriculture, manufacturing, services, and mining -- illustrative of the policy challenges that leaders face. It scrutinises the social grant and education systems to understand if South Africa has established mechanisms for people not only to escape destitution but be ready to be employed, and identifies steps that some of South Africa's most notable entrepreneurs have taken to build world-class enterprises. Recognising the essential challenge to cultivate more employers to employ people, How South Africa Works concludes by offering an agenda and active steps for greater competitiveness for government, business and labour.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.

Economic reform was the most pressing question for African and other Third World countries during the 1980s. In this first full-length examination of the political economy of adjustment in Ghana, Jeffrey Herbst describes the causes of Ghana's dramatic economic decline and reviews the politics of reform that began in 1983. Since Ghana was one of the first African countries to adopt a comprehensive reform program and the one that has sustained adjustment longest, the Ghanaian experience has profound ramifications for debates regarding stabilization and structural change across the continent. Herbst devotes special attention to the interaction between the type of government and the politics of adjustment, the reaction of interest groups such as urban labor and the peasantry, and the relationship between economic and political change. His extended field research and sophisticated knowledge of the issues involved, both from the economic and political science literature, make this study of importance not only to Africanists, political scientists, economists, and sociologists, but also to government and financial leaders wrestling with economic reform in developing countries. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1993.

Economic reform was the most pressing question for African and other Third World countries during the 1980s. In this first full-length examination of the political economy of adjustment in Ghana, Jeffrey Herbst describes the causes of Ghana's dramatic economic decline and reviews the politics of reform that began in 1983. Since Ghana was one of the first African countries to adopt a comprehensive reform program and the one that has sustained adjustment longest, the Ghanaian experience has profound ramifications for debates regarding stabilization and structural change across the continent.   Herbst devotes special attention to the interaction between the type of government and the politics of adjustment, the reaction of interest groups such as urban labor and the peasantry, and the relationship between economic and political change. His extended field research and sophisticated knowledge of the issues involved, both from the economic and political science literature, make this study of importance not only to Africanists, political scientists, economists, and sociologists, but also to government and financial leaders wrestling with economic reform in developing countries.  This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1993.

Theories of international relations, assumed to be universally applicable, have failed to explain the creation of states in Africa. There, the interaction of power and space is dramatically different from what occurred in Europe. In "States and Power in Africa," Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective. Herbst's bold contention--that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent--is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything.

This revised edition includes a new preface in which the author links the enormous changes that have taken place in Africa over the past fifteen years to long-term state consolidation. The final chapter on policy prescriptions has also been revised to reflect the evolution of African and international responses to state failure.

Carrots and sticks have always been used in combination in diplomatic affairs, but scholars and policymakers have focused more on the sticks than the carrots. In this provocative study, policy-savvy scholars examine a wide range of cases-from North Korea to South Africa to El Salvador and Bosnia-to demonstrate the power of incentives to deter nuclear proliferation, prevent armed conflict, defend civil and human rights, and rebuild war-torn societies. The book addresses the 'moral hazard' of incentives, the danger that they can be construed as bribes, concessions, or appeasement. Incentives can take many forms-economic and political, as palpable as fuel oil and as intangible, yet powerful, as diplomatic recognition and 'constructive engagement.' The cases demonstrate that incentives can sometimes succeed when traditional methods-threats, sanctions, or force-fail or are too dangerous to apply.

'One of the least challenged assumptions in the political analysis of the viability of states is that "bigger is better". Throughout the academic literature, across the policy debates, and in almost all public debate, large states are assumed to have a better chance for development and small states are assumed to be problematic. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, large states have performed poorly.' It is from this viewpoint that Big African States begins.

Because of its wide coverage and acute analysis of issues, institutions, and interest groups, "State Politics in Zimbabwe" provides the best single source for understanding the politics of post-independence Zimbabwe. Jeffrey Herbst avoids the grand generalizations that characterize so much theorizing about African politics. Instead, and despite the tendency to depict African politics in a deinstitutionalized setting, he poses a series of questions of interest to political scientists and policy makers which focus on state institutions and yield testable propositions about state autonomy and allocation processes: Under what circumstances are interest groups able to influence government decisions to allocate resources? When are institutions or leaders relatively immune to popular pressures? What factors determine which part of the state will prevail in allocation decisions? How do the structure and relative influence of state institutions affect allocation?
These general questions are addressed through seven specific case studies of decision-making in Zimbabwe which focus on: 1) the new black government's efforts to resettle black farmers on formerly white-owned land; 2) who received that land; 3) the setting of agricultural producer prices; 4) foreign investment policy; 5) the confrontation between the government and large mining transnationals; 6) the allocation of health care resources; and 7) the setting of wage levels.
Material from the case studies informs broader analyses of the politics of racial accommodation, the interplay of ideology and pragmatism, the role of the ruling party, and the leadership of Robert Mugabe.