Urban Riots in West Africa, 1977–85

1986 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
West African ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
The West ◽  
Pressure Groups ◽  
Urban Riots ◽  
African Context ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
The Military

My aim is to examine one particular mode of political participation: the urban riot. In the West African context its importance is enhanced by the fact that there exist few, if any, other ways in which the mass of the population can participate in the political process and seek to bring some influence to bear upon governments. For most of the time, in the majority of states in the region, constitutional mechanisms for influencing governments have been largely absent due to the prevailing climate of political authoritarianism. Only in the Gambia have competitive parties operated throughout the last 10 years, although a few other states (Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal) have had this type of democratic system for part of the time. For the rest, single-party or military rule has held sway, and opportunities for influencing, or indeed replacing, governments through the ballot box have been marked by their absence. Authoritarianism has extended not only to opposition parties — or, in the case of the military, any political organisation — but also to autonomous or semi-independent pressure groups, which have in general been fairly weak, even where not banned altogether.

Election dispute belies Togo's deeper stability risks

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Child Mortality ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
West African ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Franc Zone ◽  
The Military ◽  
Democratic Norms

Subject The political outlook in Togo. Significance On April 28, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that President Faure Gnassingbe had won re-election in the presidential ballot held on April 25, with 58.75% of the vote. His controversial third term will extend his family's rule to nearly 50 years. Opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre secured 34.95% of the vote. His Combat for Political Change (CAP) alliance rejects the result. Impacts Western donors' effectiveness at pushing for democratic norms will wane as Togo, like other African states, accesses new debt sources. Togo's membership of the West African CFA franc zone, which is backed by the French treasury, will ensure currency stability. A Burkina Faso-style ouster of Gnassingbe is unlikely, for now -- he enjoys the support of the military who first installed him. Despite being spared the Ebola crisis, standards of public health will remain poor, with child mortality rates far above global averages.

Bureaucrats and the Senegalese Political Process

1971 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-559 ◽  
Author(s):  
'Ladipo Adamolekun
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Political Process ◽  
West African ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
The Military

While independence in West Africa focused academic attention on political parties, the proliferation of military régimes in the late 1960s– by 1970, seven West African countries had experienced military rule — brought two other institutions into prominence: the military and civil bureaucracies. This article seeks to throw some light on the place of the civil bureaucracy in Senegal through a study of the role of bureaucrats in the country's political process.

scholarly journals A Decade of Political Unrest: An Analysis of General Zia Era in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 68-77
Author(s):  
Bakhtiar Khan ◽  
Hassan Shah ◽  
Iltaf Khan
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Military Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Unrest ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
The Military ◽  
Shed Light

The problem with Pakistan's democracy is not that only political institutions are weak but the interference of non-elected forces has also done havoc with it. Apart from the high handedness of civilian bureaucracy the unswerving military adventurism disrepute the political process of the country. The entry of military into the corridors of powers hit hard the final nail into the coffin of democratization in Pakistan. General Zia tactfully maneuvered his plan cashed the extreme polarization political parties proved yet another great hurdle to the survival democratic system. The paper analyzes the decade long unrest caused by the military regime of Gen. Zia. The paper also shed light on how abruptly military managed to gain superior position in the politics of the country. The immaturity that demonstrated by political setup is also the concern of this endeavor. Qualitative approach has been adopted to satisfy the puzzling queries pointed out above.

scholarly journals Civilianization of Military Rule in Pakistan: A Study of Musharrafs Era (2005-2008)

2020 ◽  
Vol V (I) ◽  
pp. 450-457
Author(s):  
Sughra Alam ◽  
Muhammad Nawaz Bhatti ◽  
Asia Saif Alvi
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
The Military

The Military s involvement in the political system of Pakistan began from the mid-1950s and continued verily as a guardian, a praetorian, or ruler on various occasions. Its disengagement, after the direct intervention, remained usually slow and gradual. Hence, it took a long time for disengagement and created a power-sharing model instead of transferring power to the civilian elite. The pattern of civilianization adopted by the Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq was also adopted by the Musharraf regime with few changes. In his early days, though, General Pervaiz Musharraf demonstrated intention for economic revival, accountability, devolution of power, and democratic consolidation as his foremost goals and took some steps towards that direction but he abruptly reversed those steps when he sensed a threat to his dominating position in a self-created system. This paper is an attempt to critically analyze the process of civilianization during the period under consideration based on the theoretical framework and practical norms of the democratic system.

scholarly journals Homicide and corpse dismemberment: A study of one case

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-254
Author(s):  
C BIGOT ◽  
F O NGONGANG ◽  
E NSEME ◽  
M SOUMAH ◽  
Z SANDO
Keyword(s):  
Cutting Planes ◽  
West African ◽  
The Body ◽  
Public Place ◽  
Criminal Offence ◽  
The West ◽  
Development Context ◽  
Plastic Bag ◽  
African Context ◽  
Mechanical Asphyxia

Homicide may be an isolated impulsive act arising from a situation or based on a previous conception, which is premeditation. Despite its nature or motivations, homicide remains a wrongful criminal act at all times and in all places. Several studies conducted in Western countries on this topic have highlighted the overriding concern of the criminal, which includes concealing the criminal offence in most cases.In Africa, apart from cases of infanticide, the discovery of the body of a homicide victim in a public place is a relatively common phenomenon, particularly if it involves mutilation.The body was examined; it was a young adult African female whose corpse was wrapped in a plastic bag. The autopsy established that the section or cutting planes were preferably lodged in the large joints.Death was caused by mechanical asphyxia. The focus of this case lies in the atypical nature of this type of postmortem manipulation in the West African context.The unusual nature of this type of homicide illustrates and underscores some reality in our development context.

Legitimising State Capitalism: Malian Militarism in Third-World Perspective

1980 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles D. Wolpin
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
State Capitalism ◽  
West African State ◽  
Unusual Occurrence ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Military ◽  
World Perspective

Although the analysis which follows centres upon the West African state of Mali, much of what is said applies in varying measure to other examples of military state capitalism in Africa and elsewhere. Its importance is underscored by the fact that this is an increasingly common régime variant in the Third World. Similarly, domestic militarism has been transformed from an unusual occurrence to a phenomenon which evokes little more than a déjà vu response. Today nearly half of the governments of the ‘South’ are directly or indirectly dominated by the military, whereas three decades ago little more than 15 per cent could be so classified.

Variations among North African Military Regimes

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-78
Author(s):  
Federico Battera
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
North African ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
Supreme Council ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Military

This article explores the differences between two North African military regimes—Egypt and Algeria—which have been selected due to the continuity of military dominance of the political systems. Still, variations have marked their political development. In particular, the Algerian army’s approach to civilian institutions changed after a civilian president was chosen in 1999. This was not the case in Egypt after the demise of the Hosni Mubarak regime of 2011. Other important variations are to be found in the way power has been distributed among the military apparatuses themselves. In the case of Egypt, a principle of collegiality has been generally preserved within a body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which is absent in the case of Algeria, where conflicts between military opposed factions are more likely to arise in case of crisis. How differences generally impact the stability of military rule in these two cases is the main contribution of this paper.

Anti-Indian factions in Bangladeshi Politics (1971 – 2014): A Brief Survey

Ensemble ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-122
Author(s):  
Soham DasGupta ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Military Rule ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Water Sharing ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military

India played an active role in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. The relation between the two countries remained cordial in the initial years but it soon soured with the coup d’etat of 1975. This also marked the rise of the anti-Indian elements in the Bangladeshi politics. This article makes a brief survey of anti- Indian elements that has remained a part and parcel of the political fabric of Bangladesh since 1971. It also looks into the ways in which the anti-India stance has been instrumental in garnering popular support to hold on to political power. The article begins with the background of the creation of Bangladesh and India’s active role in it which was followed by the friendship treaty signed between the two countries. Then it moves to the changing scenario following the coup d’état of 1975 which marked the visible changes within the polity of Bangladesh. The nature of nationalism underwent change moving from secularism to a religious character which found expression in the policies of the state. The military rule most often found it convenient to use the anti-Indian stance in order to please the fundamentalist elements of the country in its bid to garner popular support. The issues of water sharing, refugees and issues of fomenting possible insurgency with active support of India were highlighted. Even after the restoration of democracy, the anti-Indian factions remained active in opposing the government of Sheikh Hasina’s foreign policy with regard to India. Radical religious factions, who had throughout opposed the liberation war, still play a major role in fanning the anti-Indian sentiments in Bangladeshi politics.

Algerian army will try to guard fiefdom in transition

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Energy Sector ◽  
Military Leadership ◽  
The Political ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Formal Power ◽  
The Military

Significance The military leadership has seized control of the political process, but has shown little interest in assuming formal power, often demonstrating sympathies with protesters while preserving the constitutional order. Impacts The prime minister and interim president may be pushed to quit as a concession. Elections planned for July 4 may be postponed if unrest grows. The economy may suffer as tourism will decline and foreign investors will hesitate to become involved in an uncertain energy sector.

Different but One? A Regional Application of an Ecumenical/Global Debate

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-85
Author(s):  
Godwin I. Akper
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
West African ◽  
Ethnic Identities ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
African Experience ◽  
African Context

AbstractThe essay in the first instance, presents a sample of discussions and views dominant in the ecumenical circles on affirming and living with differences in churches. In the second part, it offers two case studies from West African experience with ethnic identities in churches. The third part applies the dominant views in the ecumenical circles that call for affirmation of differences to the West African church circles. The essay argues and concludes that affirmation of differences in churches is not helpful in the African context.

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