African Politics

376 Pages·1980·40.205 MB·English

by  P.F. Gonidec

AFRICAN POLITICS
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Libraire generale de Droit
Les Droits ajricains, 2nd edn, 1976.
L 'Etat Ajricain, Ist edn, 1970 (out of print); 2nd edn in preparation.
Editions Montcbrestien
Droit d'outre-mer, 2 vols, 1958-1960 (out of print).
Relations internationales, 2nd edn, 1977. Third Edn. in preparation.
Politique comparee du Tiers Monde, 1980.
Editions Berger-Levrault
La Republique du Senegal, 1968.
La Repub/ique Unie du Cameroun, 2nd edn, 1977.
La Republique du Tchad, 1971.
Annuaire du Tiers Monde (Direction).
AFRICAN POLITICS
by
Pierre Fran<;ois GONIDEC
•
1981
MARTINUS NIJHOFF PUBLISHERS
THE HAGUE/BOSTON/LONDON
Distributors:
for the United States and Canada
Kluwer Boston Inc.
190 Old Derby Street
Hingham, MA 02043
USA
for all other countries
Kluwer Academic Publisher Group
Distribution Center
P.O. Box 322
3300 AH Dordrecht
The Netherlands
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Gonidec, P F
African politics
Translation of Les systemes politiques africains.
Includes bibliographical references.
I. Africa-Politics and government. 2. Africa-Social conditions. 1. Title.
lQI872.G63513 320.96 80-36750
ISBN-13: 978-90-247-2391-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-8902-3
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-8902-3
First published in French as 'Les systemes politiques africains' ,
Librairie generale de droit et de jurisprudence (2nd edn, 1978).
English translation by Mostyn Mowbray.
Copyright © 1981 by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers bv, The Hague.
Cover design by Annemarie Haug.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher,
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers bv, P.O. Box 566,2501 CN The Hague, The Netherlands.
CONTENTS
List of figures and tables IX
List of abbreviations IX
INTRODUCTION
Approach to the study of African politics 2
What is political development? 13
PART I - POLITICAL FORCES 17
Chapter I - The Bases of Political Forces 19
1. Social classes and politicalforces 19
A glance at the evolution of the social class system 19
Political forces before independence 23
The present configuration of political forces 26
2. The weight of the superstructure 29
Tribalism and racism 29
Religions 34
Education 38
Information 41
Chapter II - Outline of a Typology of Political Forces 46
1. Traditional political forces and modern political forces 46
The reality of traditional forces 46
Relationships between traditional forces and modern forces 51
2. Manifest political forces and latent political forces 53
Manifest political forces 53
From movements to political parties 53
Trade unions 59
Young people's and women's organizations 62
Latent political forces 63
Internal forces 63
External forces 69
3. Progressive or revolutionary forces and conservative or reactionary for
ces 71
PART II - THE POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES 79
Chapter I - International Relations 81
1. Ideologies of decolonization 81
From the African Personality to the assertion of a national culture 82
1 Nationalism 88
Nationalism as a rejection of the colonial system 89
Nationalism as a demand 93
2. Panafricanism 100
The birth and growth of the ideology 100
The significance of the ideology 103
3. Non-alignment and 'Third Worldism' 105
Chapter II - Inte!nal Politics 110
1. Which kinds of models? 110
Models of the capitalist type 111
Models of the socialist type 115
2. Awareness ofthe models 121
3. The influence of models on the roads towards economic
development 127
The choice of the capitalist road to development 127
The 'African roads' to socialism 129
Marxism-leninism 136
4. The influence of models on the conceptions of goverment 139
Constitutional populism 140
Populism and the society of unanimity 143
Populism of the Party 147
PART III - POLITICAL STRUCTURES 167
Chapter I - A Marginal People 169
1. Suffrage and democracy 169
The problem of candidatures 170
Who can be a candidate? 170
How does the Party choose its candidates? 175
The exercise of the right to vote 178
2. The party and democracy 185
The gap between the party and the people 186
The significance of the party membership 186
Leadership of the population 190
The party, a modern version of feudalism 197
3. Citizens' rights and freedoms in danger 204
Political factors 205
The influence of African political philosophy 205
Political structures 207
Underdevelopment 210
Concrete liberties and abstract liberties 210
The conflict of rights and obligations 213
Justice 215
The politicization of ordinary justice 215
Evolution towards political justice 218
Chapter II - The Instability of Political Institutions 224
1. Forms of instability 224
Ministerial reshuffles 224
The succession of Constitutions and the decline of constitutionalism 227
Recourse to violence 232
Typology of violence 232
Causes 235
2. Coups d'etat 238
Characteristics of coups d'etat 238
Interpretation of coups d'etat 242
The consequences of coups d'etat 246
Legal consequences 247
Political consequences 249
Economic and social consequences 254
3. Rebellions 257
PART IV - POLITICAL ACTION 263
Chapter I - International Relations 265
1. African unity put to the test 265
National liberation movements 266
The conflict with racist States 273
2. Africa and the rest of the world 279
Africa and the UNO 279
Africa and Europe 282
Bilateral relations 286
Chapter II - Economic Policies 298
1. The development of underdevelopment 298
2. The misadventures of the non-capitalist road to development 304
3. The economy of States influenced by marxism-leninism 311
Chapter III - Cultural Policies 317
1. The mirage of the right to education 317
2. Cultural alienation 330
Chapter IV - Social Policies 338
1. The quest for full employment 338
2. The right to medical care 343
3. Trade unionism and political power 346
Name index 355
Subject index 363
Geographical index 366
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1. Nkrumah's view of the relation between capitalist
exploitation and racialism. 31
Figure 2. Party-State relationships in Tunisia. 151
Figure 3. Simplified structures, Guinea-Bissau. 153
Figure 4. Authority and power in the Cameroon regime. 155
Figure 5. Structure of T ANU . 194
Figure 6. Class struggle in Africa (K. Nkrumah, Panaf
Books, London, 1970). 245
Table 1. Evolution of the geographical distribution of im
ports and exports of Mali after the 18 November
1968 coup d'etat. 305
Table 2. Public expenditure on education in US dollars at
current market prices. 320
Table 3. Overall school enrolment ratio (6-29 years). 324
Table 4. In-school and out-of-school population (1960-
1972) in millions. 325
Table 5. Second level enrolment and enrolment ratio;
Middle Africa (observed and target), 1960, 1965-
1970; North Africa (observed), 1965-1972. 326
Table 6. Enrolment ratios by age groups and groups of
countries. 328
Table 7. Second level enrolment by type of education,
Middle and North Africa, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1970,
1971, 1972. 334
Table 8. Formal sector wage and salary earners in the Ivory
Coast and in Abidjan by sector of activity, nation-
ality and skill level, 1971 (absolute figures). 341