Richard Vengroff

Governance and the Transition to Democracy: Political Parties and the Party System in Mali

Although many African countries have had to address pressures for democratisation and are undergoing some form of transition, Mali is an especially interesting case which could provide useful insights into the durability of democracy on the continent and elsewhere. Mali has experienced extraordinary changes in the past two years leading to the almost total transformation of the political system from a highly authoritarian regime to one which has all the trappings of a liberal democracy. Unlike most other nations, Mali was fortunate in being able to write a new constitution and hold elections without the burden of continued participation in the process by a ruling party and head of state. Therefore, the more open procedures offer a better indication of the degree to which, given the opportunity, a modern democratic system can take root in the African milieu.

Neo-Colonialism and Policy Outputs in Africa

development.’ In spite of the great diversity of indicators and approaches employed, most analysts emphasize. internal characteristics of the “underdeveloped” nation-state . as the basis for its relatively disadvantageous position. Increasing structural differentiation and cultural secularization, often disguised under different rubrics, are viewed as the basis for a “takeoff stage” (Rostow, 1960; Organski, 1965). This takeoff is alleged to make it possible for the “less developed nations” to provide their people with the material comforts of the Western Capitalist nations. When analyzed from a Marxist perspective, the assumptions underlying the Western developmental models are severely questioned. According to ,Dos Santos (1971: 235), “attempts to analyze the reality of these countries [underdeveloped nations], as a result of backwardness in assimilating more advanced models of production or in modernizing themselves, are nothing more than ideology disguised as science.” Rather than being allowed access to the so-called market place of ideas, Marxist interpretations of development have been systematically excluded from consideration in American universities. In a recent survey of political science courses on development in the United States, not a single Marxist author was mentioned by as many as 5% of the 170 respondents as being included in their courses (Kenski and Kenski, 1974). It is the aim of this essay to consider some of the implications of Marxist theory for development in Africa. T been the drive toward the achievement of political and economic

State Intervention and Agricultural Development in Africa: A Cross-National Study

The crisis in African agriculture is reflected in five trends which evolved over the past two decades: the growth rate of agricultural production began to decline and, in the I 970s, was less than the rate of population growth... agricultural exports stagnated... food production per capita was at best stagnant in the i 96os and fell in the 1970s; commercial imports of food grains grew more than three times as fast as population... ... increased food dependency...1

Dependency and Underdevelopment in Black Africa: An Empirical Test

In the literature of both comparative politics and international relations there exist two broad theoretical orientations towards the concept of development: capitalist and Marxist or neo-Marxist. The first emphasises the nation as the basic unit of analysis, and assumes that development is a matter of accepting and implementing western forms of political and economic organisation, and of the masses internalising ‘modern’ attitudes and values. 1 The second identifies world capitalism as the key unit of analysis, and is convinced that underdevelopment is both created and maintained by this international economic system. 2

Urban Government and Nation Building in East Africa

Recent years have witnessed a rebirth of interest in the study of local government (or local political systems, depending on ones theoretical orientation). This has been especially true among political Scientists seeking to develop new approaches more readily applicable to the political systems of the so-called emerging nations. It has become apparent to an increasing number of research workers that grandiose macro-theory of the Almond variety, while impressive on paper, may be of very little use in the field. 1 Thus an attempt is now being made to return to the micro-level in order to gain greater conceptual clarity, and an understanding of behaviour in political situations. Unfortunately much of the new thrust to develop micro-level theory has been hampered by the continuing use of old, and at least partially outdated, tools, or what I have chosen to call (perhaps unjustifiably) ‘the public-administration approach’.