Govt 400.04: African Politics

Wednesdays 2:30-4:25

White Hall 114

Syllabus (HTML)

Syllabus (PDF)

Library Research Guide:

http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/faculty/gov4004.html

Course Description

This seminar provides and introduction to the politics of contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is often characterized as a continent in political and economic crises. However, there has been considerable variation in performance, both across the continent and across time. We will examine these variations to gain a better understanding of the current challenges and opportunities faced by Africa states. We will begin by reviewing the historical contexts of pre-colonial rule, the nature and legacies of colonial rule, and the politics of independence. Then we will explore the authoritarian turn of the 1970’s and 1980’s and the related economic collapse. In doing so, we will read and discuss about the character of the patrimonial state, the role of ethnicity in politics, citizen reactions to authoritarian rule, the political economy of agriculture, and the deleterious effects of the gate-keeper state. Next we will analyze the causes and consequences of the recent waves of economic and democratic reforms that are sweeping over Africa. After assessing the moves towards democracy taking place in most of Africa, we will examine the concurrent phenomenon of state collapse, along with the resulting violence and humanitarian crises. Lastly we will consider the road ahead for African states and their citizens.

This class fulfills the Government major requirement for a seminar-style course. It will be a demanding course; the reading, writing, and participation requirements are considerable. For the seminar to function properly, students must come well prepared for class and take an active role in discussion. To help students with their research projects, our class discussions will focus on explicating and evaluating the social science arguments in the assigned readings. I will ask students to identify the key questions asked, the hypotheses tested, the evidence brought to bear, and the arguments asserted. We will critically analyze the completeness and coherence of arguments and the validity of the evidence. We will search for additional testable implications of the arguments and consider what kinds of evidence would bolster or weaken the claims of the authors. Will also search for important questions that the authors left unanswered and consider how they can yield testable hypotheses.