African Politics
Identifying unique characteristics through comparison
by SATO Akira
Baobab trees in Senegal
The year 2005 was named the second Year of Africa, recalling 1960, the Year of Africa in which African nations won their independence one after another. With aid to Africa being a major discussion topic of the Gleneagles Summit and focus of the mid-term evaluation of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) on Africa, international attention has been turned to the serious issues of poverty, communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and conflicts faced by Sub-Saharan African nations. From the standpoint of area studies, whose goal is the understanding of others, the increased attention on and increased newspaper and television coverage of Africa is seen as a positive development. However, given the focus of coverage on disasters, it is important to recognize that such narrow coverage can potentially lead to one-dimensional stereotyping of the region. There are 49 independent Sub-Saharan countries (including island nations), each with its own history and characteristics. In order to develop a deeper understanding of Africa as a region, it is important to pay attention to both unique characteristics of individual nations as well as to indentify commonalities.
The
same
can
be
said
for
understanding
politics
in
Africa.
While
donor
countries
and
international
development
agencies
tend,
in
general,
to
focus
on
the
“problems”
such
as
deficiencies
in
governance,
dictatorships,
corruption,
conflicts,
and
insecurity
of
multi-ethnic
societies,
the
political
realities
of
individual
African
nations,
each
of
which
has
its
own
unique
characteristics,
does
not
allow
us
to
generalize
them
with
such
a
stereotypical
view.
The
elimination
of
such
single-sided,
generalized
evaluation
can
be
said
to
be
the
mandate
for
African
political
science
research.
For
example,
the
most
important
development
in
African
countries
in
recent
years
is
the
democratization
in
the
1990s,
in
which
military
rule
or
single-party
rule
has
been
replaced
by
multi-party
regimes
in
almost
all
African
nations.
While
some
countries
have
experienced
insecurity
during
the
democratization
process
(for
example,
Cote
d’Ivoire),
there
are
other
countries
in
which
democracy
seems
to
have
taken
root
after
experiencing
one
or
more
successful
free
and
fair
elections
(Kenya,
Zambia,
for
example).
With
regards
to
civil
wars
and
unrest,
again,
while
there
are
countries
experiencing
chronic
war
(in
recent
years,
Liberia,
Burundi,
etc.),
other
countries
have
experienced
a
certain
degree
of
success
in
national
reconciliation
after
the
cessation
of
conflicts
(for
example
Rwanda).
These
differences
only
come
to
light
through
an
area
studies
approach,
whereby
the
political
situations
of
individual
countries
are
carefully
analyzed
and
compared
with
those
of
other
countries
within
the
region.
There
may
be
some
question
here
as
to
whether
it
is
necessary
to
limit
comparisons
to
other
African
nations.
Naturally,
comparison
of
African
countries
with
non-African
countries
is
an
important
approach.
There
is,
however,
an
important
methodological
reason
for
limiting
the
scope
of
comparison
to
the
region.
Although
the
discipline
and
theory
of
political
science,
including
the
sub-discipline
of
comparative
political
science,
has
developed
rapidly
since
the
end
of
the
Second
World
War,
this
theoretical
evolution
has
not
incorporated
the
experiences
of
new
African
nations
that
have
gained
independence
since
1960.
This
has
led
to
a
large
disconnect
between
political
theory
and
the
political
realities
in
Africa.
Many
scholars
of
African
politics
face
the
dilemma
of
not
being
able
to
simply
apply
accumulated
political
science
theories
to
analyze
African
politics.
That
is
to
say,
while
the
reality
of
African
politics
appears
not
to
fit
into
the
framework
of
political
science
theory,
at
the
same
time,
political
science
has
actively
ignored
the
experience
of
African
politics
(an
example
of
this
is
researchers
who
take
a
pessimistic
view
of
Africa
based
on
the
"absence"
of
Western-style
democratization
and
civil
society).
The
conceptual
framework
of
"African
politics"
is
intended
to
bridge
the
gap
between
political
science
theory
and
the
reality
of
African
politics
and
is
well-suited
for
the
study
of
a
mid-sized
region
with
shared
issues.
In
comparing
the
cases
of
individual
African
nations,
we
simultaneously
develop
regional
theories
and
identify
unique
characteristics
of
individual
countries.
In
other
words,
these
investigations
capitalize
on
the
ongoing
reformulation
of
regional
research
and
contribute
to
the
eventual
unification
with
existing
political
science
theory.
“African
politics”
serves
both
a
research
approach
as
well
as
a
forum
for
that
discussion.