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The debates over what African economic integration and development
actually entails continue across international economic
organizations, national governments and NGOs. Despite the glare of
media attention and the position this issue has on international
political agendas, few comprehensive accounts exist that fully
examine why this process will be inevitable in the 21st century and
how integration of national economies can be attuned to attaining
the socio-economic goals and aspirations of member-countries. This
book addresses this problem. It combines theory with application,
enumerating the imperatives and initiatives governments will be
forced to confront; providing insights for educators and students
in African development, for policy makers in African governments,
and for inter-governmental organizations.
Benin is now perceived of as a model of democracy in Africa because
it has successfully established a democratic political system based
on consensus and regular and fair elections, and it continues to
improve its electoral and parliamentary systems. Since its
democracy it has taken important steps towards laying the
foundation for the rule of law by establishing stable political
institutions that can withstand the test of time. It has also
engaged in an important legal, institutional, and regulatory reform
to establish a more favorable environment for private initiative.
The fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Benin covers its
history through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an
extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 900
cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics,
economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an
excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone
wanting to know more about Benin.
The relationship between civil society and the armed forces is an
essential part of any polity, democratic or otherwise, because a
military force is after all a universal feature of social systems.
Despite significant progress moving towards democracy among some
African countries in the past decade, all too many African
militaries have yet to accept core democratic principles regulating
civilian authority over the military. This book explores the theory
of civil-military relations and moves on to review the intrusion of
the armed forces in African politics by looking first into the
organization and role of the army in pre-colonial and colonial
eras, before examining contemporary armies and their impact on
society. Furthermore it revisits the various explanations of
military takeovers in Africa and disentangles the notion of the
military as the modernizing force. Whether as a revolutionary
force, as a stabilizing force, or as a modernizing force, the
military has often been perceived as the only organized and
disciplined group with the necessary skills to uplift newly
independent nations. The performance of Africa's military
governments since independence, however, has soundly disproven this
thesis. As such, this study conveys the necessity of new
civil-military relations in Africa and calls not just for civilian
control of the military but rather a democratic oversight of the
security forces in Africa.
This edited volume focuses on the democratic performance of regimes
in some of the least populous countries on the African continent.
Using a framework developed by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, each
case study provides in-depth analysis of democratic contestation in
the following arenas: electoral, judiciary, legislature, media, and
civil society. This volume also examines the key factors that push
these regimes in either democratic or authoritarian directions, and
how these regimes are likely to evolve in the future.
Contrary to conventional wisdom on democratic transition in Africa,
civil society alone does not trigger democratization on the
continent. Determinants of Democratization in Africa fills an
important theoretical gap, by shedding light on the key variables
to democratic transitions in Africa. Mathurin C. Houngnikpo
demonstrates that democratic renewal in Africa depends more on the
Military, incumbent leaders' willingness for change, and foreign
influence. Houngnikpo shows, through a study of Benin and Togo,
that civil society is necessary but not sufficient for
democratization on the continent.
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