Journal of African Elections
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A Word of Welcome from the Conference Organizer
A word of welcome from the conference organizer Dear conference delegates, Welcome to the Nordic Africa Days 2014 in Uppsala! The Nordic Africa Days (NAD) is the biennial conference which for the past six years has been organized rotatively in each of the Nordic countries. Already since 1969 the Nordic Africa Institute has organised this regular gathering of Nordic scholars studying African issues, and the event has for the past 15 years been formalized under the name of the Nordic Africa Days. The theme of this year’s conference is Misbehaving States and Behaving Citizens? Questions of Governance in African States. We are proud to host two distinguished keynote speakers, Dr Mo Ibrahim and Associate Professor Morten Jerven, addressing the theme from different angles in their speeches entitled “Why Governance Matters” and “Africa by Numbers: Knowledge & Governance”. The conference is funded by long-standing and committed support from the Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic governments. This year, we are also particularly pleased to be able to facilitate participation of about 25 researchers based on the African continent through a generous contribution from Sida (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). Providing a platform for Nordic and African researchers to meet and cooperate at NAD is becoming ever more important, in addition to creating a prime meeting place for researchers on Africa within the Nordic region. The main conference venue is Blåsenhus, one of the newest campuses within Uppsala University, situated opposite the Uppsala Castle and surrounded by the Uppsala Botanical Gardens. This particular area of Uppsala has a historical past that goes back 350 years in time and offers many interesting places to visit. -
Can African States Conduct Free and Fair Presidential Elections? Edwin Odhiambo Abuya
Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights Volume 8 | Issue 2 Article 1 Spring 2010 Can African States Conduct Free and Fair Presidential Elections? Edwin Odhiambo Abuya Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njihr Recommended Citation Edwin Odhiambo Abuya, Can African States Conduct Free and Fair Presidential Elections?, 8 Nw. J. Int'l Hum. Rts. 122 (2010). http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njihr/vol8/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights by an authorized administrator of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. Copyright 2010 by Northwestern University School of Law Volume 8, Issue 2 (Spring 2010) Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights Can African States Conduct Free and Fair Presidential Elections? Edwin Odhiambo Abuya* Asiyekubali kushindwa si msihindani.1 I. INTRODUCTION ¶1 Can African States hold free and fair elections? To put it another way, is it possible to conduct presidential elections in Africa that meet internationally recognized standards? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. However, in order to safeguard voting rights, specific reforms must be adopted and implemented on the ground. In keeping with international legal standards on democracy,2 the constitutions of many African states recognize the right to vote.3 This right is reflected in the fact that these states hold regular elections. The right to vote is fundamental in any democratic state, but an entitlement does not guarantee that right simply by providing for elections. -
Yale: Focus on Africa - Fall 2017
Yale: Focus on Africa - Fall 2017 SHARE: Join Our Email List In this edition of Focus on Africa we present an array of highlights showcasing notable speakers and visitors on campus, faculty news, student and alumni profiles and educational programs on the continent. We also bring you a snapshot of the various activities on campus that serve as an invaluable platform for substantive inquiry and discourse on Africa. Over the last few months, we have been pleased to welcome several alumni to campus, including renowned human rights lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee '74 LLM and novelist Deji Olukotun '00 B.A. We hope you enjoy this issue. - Eddie Mandhry, Director for Africa Faculty Research Faculty Awarded Two Grants to Support Health System in Liberia Faculty at the Yale School of Medicine have been awarded two grants by the World Bank and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support and strengthen medical education and health management in Liberia. The Yale Team will be led by Dr. Asghar Rastegar, professor of medicine and director of the Office of Global Health in the Department of Medicine, and will include Onyema Ogbuagu, assistant professor of infectious diseases, and Dr. Kristina Talbert-Slagle, assistant professor of general internal medicine. More >> Kate Baldwin Appointed the Strauss Assistant Professor of Political Science Kate Baldwin was newly named as the Peter Strauss Family Assistant Professor of Political Science. She focuses her research on political accountability, state building, and the politics of development, with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Baldwin is the author of the book https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Yale--Focus-on-Africa---Fall-2017.html?soid=1114503266644&aid=I29nYbCBV5o[6/17/21, 3:37:29 PM] Yale: Focus on Africa - Fall 2017 "The Paradox of Traditional Chiefs in Democratic Africa," which received an Honorable Mention for the Riker Award recognizing the best book in political economy published in the previous three years. -
Who's to Challenge the Party-State in Angola? Political Space & Opposition in Parties and Civil Society
Who’s to challenge the party‐state in Angola? Political space & opposition in parties and civil society Aslak Orre Chr. Michelsen Institute Bergen, Norway for the conference ‘Election processes, liberation movements and democratic change in Africa’ Maputo, 8‐11 April 2010 CMI and IESE Introduction 1 The case of the Lubango demolitions 2 Elections in Angola: 1992 and 2008 4 The 2008 parliamentary elections 8 New constitution, old presidency, entrenched party‐state 10 The 2010 constitution 12 Can “civil society” substitute opposition parties in a democratic party‐state? 14 References 18 Introduction Was it not for the unsolved though low-scale conflict in the Cabinda enclave north of the Congo river, Angola has been “at peace” since February 2002 when government troops killed insurgent leader Jonas Savimbi. The remaining guerrillas of Unita demobilised and its leadership was integrated into Unita the political party. Although Unita then was formally part of a Government of National Unity and Reconciliation (GURN), there was never any doubt as to who were the ruling party: The MPLA, under the supreme leadership of President José Eduardo dos Santos. The MPLA has been the governing party Angola since independence in 1975 and dos Santos the party leader and President since 1979. He has overseen the end of the one-party state in 1991, the end of the long war and the coming of age of the oil-boom and spectacular economic growth of the 2000’s – and in early 2010 a new constitution was in place which essentially solidifies dos Santos’ rule. This paper is a case study of one of the first-generation liberation movements which after independence converted itself into the ruling party. -
The State and Politicization of Governance in Post 1990 Africa:A
International Journal of Political Science (IJPS) Volume 2, Issue 2, 2016, PP 23-38 ISSN 2454-9452 http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2454-9452.0202003 www.arcjournals.org The State and Politicization of Governance in Post 1990 Africa: A Political Economy 1Luke Amadi, 2Imoh –Imoh-Itah, 3 Roger Akpan 1,3Department of Political and Administrative Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria 2Department of Public Administration, Akwa Ibom State University, Obio Akpa Campus Abstract: Novel expectations for democratization re-emerged at the Post- Cold War Africa following the return to multi -party elections and the dismantling of one party authoritarian regime. What remains largely unclear and poorly studied is the dynamics of the State and Governance at Post -Cold War Africa .This paper deployed the Marxian political economy framework and examined the State and governance nexus in Africa’s nascent democracy in the period 1990 to 2014. It argued that the State in Africa remains increasingly elitist and predatory despite the end to one party autocratic regime and multi -party elections. The substantial strategy has been “the politicization of governance”. It conceptualized this theoretical model to demonstrate how the State and governance deploy coercive instrumentalities to appropriate political power . The salient dimensions are explored to demonstrate that the State has remained a “derisive apparatus” in naked pursuit of power. In particular, it demonstrates how political patronage is fought for, resisted or propagated and how this has increasingly resulted in failure of governance and development. Keywords: The State , Politics, Governance, Democracy, Development, Africa 1. INTRODUCTION Since the emergence of modern State, relationships and interactions among actors within the State orbit have ever been more important to explore the study of governance as a mode of theoretical and empirical inquiry and as activity of people in government. -
Global Heritage Assemblages and Modern Architecture in Africa
Rescuing Modernity: Global Heritage Assemblages and Modern Architecture in Africa Citation for published version (APA): Rausch, C. (2013). Rescuing Modernity: Global Heritage Assemblages and Modern Architecture in Africa. Universitaire Pers Maastricht. https://doi.org/10.26481/dis.20131018cr Document status and date: Published: 01/01/2013 DOI: 10.26481/dis.20131018cr Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Please check the document version of this publication: • A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. -
Africans Want Open Elections – Especially If They Bring Change
Africans want open elections – especially if they bring change By Michael Bratton and Sadhiska Bhoojedhur Afrobarometer Policy Paper No. 58 | June 2019 Introduction Observers now commonly assert that multiparty elections are institutionalized as a standard feature of African politics (Posner & Young, 2007; Bratton, 2013; Cheeseman, 2018; Bleck & van de Walle, 2019). By this they mean that competitive electoral contests are the most commonplace procedure for choosing and changing political leaders across the continent. As a result of a wave of regime transitions in the 1990s, the vast majority of African countries abandoned one-party systems and military rule in favour of democratic constitutions that guarantee – at least on paper – civil and political rights, civilian control of the military, and legislative and judicial oversight of the executive branch of government. Almost all countries have introduced a regular cycle of elections (usually every five years), and many have placed constitutional limits on the number of terms that African presidents can serve (usually two). Today, encouraged by the African Union’s African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, all political leaders feel compelled to pay at least token respect to a new set of continent-wide electoral standards. In short, elections are now embedded in the formal rules that govern politics on the continent. But the institutionalization of elections requires more than an international proclamation, an aspirational constitution, and a tightly drafted framework of statutes and regulations. It also requires political actors at all levels of the political system to grant value to open elections as the preferred method for selecting leaders and holding them accountable. -
Angola Brief
A brief by Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and Centro de Estudos e Investigação Científica (CEIC) ANGOLA BRIEF April 2013 Volume 3 No.1 Controlling elections: The Angolan Election Commission The election winner, President Over the last few years, Angolan legislation on elections and the Angolan national José Eduardo dos Santos, is received by his MPLA party election commission has been strengthened considerably. In legal terms the crowd in Luanda after the 2012 Comissão Nacional Eleitoral (CNE) is now an independent commission with wide- elections. ranging powers, that might pave the way for political reform and democratisation Photo: MPLA (www.mpa.ao) in Angola. However, due to the political context it remains to be seen if this formal autonomy will be translated into a counter-balancing institution to the centralised Angolan government. ELECTION COMMISSIONS WORLDWIDE demand of the opposition in many emerging Election commissions are important regulatory democracies; it was part and parcel of the bodies throughout the developing world. An demand for free and fair elections, respect for election commission (EC) is a governmental political rights, and democracy. Independent electoral management body (EMB) charged electoral commissions are in fact a relatively with overseeing the implementation of the recent invention, and the preferred form of election laws and procedures. In many countries election management in virtually all countries the commission is also charged with the that have undertaken electoral reform since the implementation of the elections proper. early 1990s. An election commission is a special institution of ELECTION COMMISSION INDEPENDENCE control or restraint. In liberal democracies, the Many electoral management bodies purport horizontal accountability function of parliaments to be independent, but they are not. -
The Democratic Challenge in Africa
The Democratic Challenge in Africa The Carter Center The Carter Center May, 1994 Introduction On May 13-14, 1994, a group of 32 scholars and practitioners took part in a seminar on Democratization in Africa at The Carter Center. This consultation was a sequel to two similar meetings held in February 1989 and March 1990. Discussion papers from those seminars have been published under the titles, Beyond Autocracy in Africa and African Governance in the 1990s. During the period 1990-94, the African Governance Program of The Carter Center moved from discussions and reflections to active involvement in the complex processes of renewed democratization in several African countries. These developments throughout Africa were also monitored and assessed in the publication, Africa Demos. The letter of invitation to the 1994 seminar called attention to the need for a new period of collective reflection because of "the severe difficulties encountered by several of these transitions." "The overriding concern," it was further stated, "will be to identify what could be done to help strengthen the pluralist democracies that have emerged during the past five years and what strategies may be needed to overcome the many obstacles that are now evident." A list of 12 questions was sent to each of the participants with a request that they identify which ones they wished to address in their discussion papers. As it turned out, the choice of topics could be conveniently grouped in six panels. Following the seminar, 19 of the participants revised their papers for publication in this volume, while an additional four scholars (John Harbeson, Goran Hyden, Timothy Longman, and Donald Rothchild), who had been unable to attend the meeting, still submitted papers for discussion and publication. -
Accountable Government in Africa Perspectives from Public Law and Political Studies
C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Accountable Government in Africa Perspectives from public law and political studies EDITORS DANWOOD M. CHIRWA LIA NIJZINK United Nations University Press TOKYO • NEW YORK • PARIS Accountable Government in Africa: Perspectives from public law and political studies First Published 2013 Print published in 2012 in South Africa by UCT Press An imprint of Juta and Company Ltd First Floor Sunclare Building 21 Dreyer Street Claremont, 7708 South Africa www.uctpress.co.za © 2012 UCT Press Published in 2012 in North America, Europe and Asia by United Nations University Press United Nations University, 53-70, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan Tel: +81-3-5467-1212 Fax: +81-3-3406-7345 E-mail: [email protected] General enquiries: [email protected] http://www.unu.edu United Nations University Office at the United Nations, New York 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-2062, New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: +1-212-963-6387 Fax: +1-212-371-9454 E-mail: [email protected] United Nations University Press is the publishing division of the United Nations University. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. ISBN 978-1-91989-537-6 (Parent) ISBN 978-1-92054-163-7 (WebPDF) ISBN 978-92-808-1205-3 (North America, Europe and South East Asia) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Accountable government in Africa : perspectives from public law and political studies / editors: Danwood M. Chirwa, Lia Nijzink. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. -
Understanding Inclusive Peace Agreements in Africa: the Problems of Sharing Power
Third World Quarterly, Vol 21, No 1, pp 105± 118, 2000 Understanding inclusive peace agreements in Africa: the problems of sharing power IAN S SPEARS ABSTRACT Power sharing has increasingly been seen as a way out of otherwise intransigent con¯ icts in multi-ethnic African societies. Yet power sharing has obvious problems: power sharing agreements are dif® cult to arrive at, even more dif® cult to implement, and even when implemented, such agreements rarely stand the test of time. Indeed, there are relatively few historical examples of successful, formalised power sharing in Africa which would warrant its advocacy. Drawing primarily on the cases of Angola, Somalia, Ethiopia and Rwanda, this paper seeks to explain why a method of con¯ ict resolution so appealing in theory fails so often in practice. The paper will outline general theoretical approaches to power sharing, examine the practical problems associated with its implementation, and suggest ideas for how some of these problems can be overcome. Power sharingÐ whereby government posts are distributed across the most powerful political parties or groupingsÐ has increasingly been seen as a way out of otherwise intransigent con¯ icts in divided, multi-ethnic African societies. Indeed, power sharing is intuitively appealing as a means of con¯ ict resolution and governance. It provides a reasonable alternative to the type of high-stakes, winner-takes-all elections which led to a resumption of war in Angola in 1992. It also offers a promising solution to groups who can neither envision secession nor tolerate the status quo and who, like the SPLA, Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army, in the Sudan, call for a `radical restructuring’ of power. -
International Electoral Assistance a Review of Donor Activities and Lessons Learned
Working Paper Series Working Paper 17 International Electoral Assistance A Review of Donor Activities and Lessons Learned Benjamin Reilly Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ Conflict Research Unit June 2003 Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ Clingendael 7 2597 VH The Hague P.O. Box 93080 2509 AB The Hague Phonenumber: # 31-70-3245384 Telefax: # 31-70-3282002 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.clingendael.nl/cru © Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyrightholders. Clingendael Institute, P.O. Box 93080, 2509 AB The Hague, The Netherlands. The contents and views expressed in this paper are the sole responsibility of the author and should not be ascribed to the Clingendael Institute or to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. © Clingendael Institute 3 Preface In April 2002, the Conflict Research Unit (CRU) of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ started with a new project analyzing the impact of international democracy assistance on post-conflict societies. This project, entitled Democratic Transition in Post-Conflict Societies. Building Local Institutions, is a collaborative research effort of participating research institutes in Central America, Africa and South Asia and the CRU. In order to obtain a wide variety of experiences and focus on different socio-political settings, case studies include Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique and Sierra Leone. The analyses are conducted by local researchers with the aim of capturing ‘insider’ views on the international community’s influence on the process of democratization in the respective post-conflict societies.