scholarly journals Democratization Trapped in Electoral Violence: Is Sub-Saharan Africa a Dangerous Place for Democracy?

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-30
Author(s):  
Mojeed Adekunle Animashaun
Keyword(s):  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Causative Factor ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Risk Environment ◽  
African Region ◽  
Land Access ◽  
Electoral Violence ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Power Elite

The third wave of democratization that hit the African region in the early 1990s left in its wake termination of authoritarian rule, and consequent enthronement of democratic regimes. This momentous event raised high hopes of enduring democracy in a region with egregious authoritarian past. Three decades after the epochal transition that has been aptly dubbed Africa’s ‘second liberation’, prospects of democratic consolidation have not only waned considerably, but also initial hopes of democratic deepening have evaporated. While there is a plethora of factors that account for this democratic recession, electoral violence has been implicated in the literature as a key causative factor. Whereas Africa has seen an impressive increase in the frequency of elections in the post-third wave period, this democratic gain has been eroded by a corresponding increase in the incidence of violence in African elections. By comparing Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe—three countries with different decolonization and democratization experiences—the paper shows that electoral violence is neither a recent phenomenon in Africa nor an exclusive strategy of a specific fraction of the power elite. The paper argues that electoral violence is promoted by such factors as politicization of land access, ethnic marginalization, patrimonialism, state-backed violence, and youth unemployment. These factors combine to make the Sub-Saharan Africa a ‘risk environment’ for electoral democracy. The paper concludes by proposing some reform measures capable of protecting the ballot against the bullet

scholarly journals Protest, Internet Activism, and Sociopolitical Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 000276422097506
Author(s):  
Oscar Mateos ◽  
Carlos Bajo Erro
Keyword(s):  
Field Work ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Sociopolitical Change ◽  
The Third ◽  
Political Protests ◽  
Street Protest ◽  
Internet Activism ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Sub Saharan

Sub-Saharan Africa has been the scene of a sizeable wave of social and political protests in recent years. These protests have many aspects in common, while at the same time there is a certain historic continuity connecting them to previous protests, with which they also have much in common. What makes them new, however, is a hybrid nature that combines street protest and online action, making them similar to protests occurring in other parts of the world during the same period. Based on a literature review and field work on three countries, Senegal, Burkina Faso, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this article addresses some of the main features of what some authors have called the “third wave of African protests.” The study points out how the digital environment is galvanizing a new process of popular opposition and enabling both greater autonomy for actors promoting the protests and greater interaction at the regional level. With the sociopolitical impact in the short and medium term still uncertain, the third wave of African protests is giving birth to a new political and democratic culture in the region as a whole.

Democratic demands and social policies: the politics of health reform in Ghana

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Carbone
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Reform ◽  
Policy Diffusion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Policy Feedback ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTIt is commonly assumed that the advent of democracy tends to bring about social welfare improvements. Few studies, however, have examined empirically the impact of third-wave democratisation processes on social policies in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Through a diachronic comparison, this paper examines the effects of Ghana's democratisation process on the evolution of its health policy. It shows that the emergence of democratic competition played an important role in the recent adoption of a crucial health reform. A policy feedback effect on politics and a process of international policy diffusion were additional but secondary factors.

The urgent need for health impact assessment: proposing a transdisciplinary approach to the e-waste crisis in sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinah Tetteh ◽  
Lara Lengel
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Electronic Waste ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Region ◽  
Sub Saharan

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing health and environmental concern in developing countries. In the sub-Saharan African region e-waste is considered a crisis with no end in sight yet; there is lack of structures and regulations to manage the problem. In this article, we discuss the potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in addressing the health, environmental, and social impacts of e-waste in sub-Saharan Africa. We draw from environmental policy, environmental communication, global health policy, and health communication to argue that managing e-waste could be framed as ongoing HIA where all the steps of HIA are performed on a rolling basis with input from local communities. Further, we suggest that HIA should be infused into recycling legislation to help streamline the practice in order to make it safe for health and the environment and to maximize the economic benefits.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurship education as human capital: Implications for youth self-employment and conflict mitigation in Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paschal Anosike
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Secondary School Curriculum ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Capital Development

Previous research has focused on stable developed economies to predict that human capital and entrepreneurship education (EE) provision at the higher education (HE) level will positively affect entrepreneurial success. This article draws on the outcome of recent EE projects in two HE institutions in a conflict-torn northern Nigeria as a proxy to advocate the introduction of entrepreneurship as a compulsory component into the secondary school curriculum in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using semi-structured interview data, it is found that the provision of EE at secondary education level could help to facilitate human capital development and assist efforts to curb youth unemployment. Specifically, the study suggests that EE comprises both generic and specific human capital that increases an individual’s ability to identify and exploit opportunities, particularly for young people, and in doing so helps to reduce their vulnerability to poverty and involvement in armed conflict. Suggestions for future research and policy considerations are provided.

Informal repression, zero-sum politics and late third wave transitions

2000 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Kirschke
Keyword(s):  
Political Reform ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Third Wave ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Unique Combination ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Zero Sum ◽  
Multiparty Politics

Transitions to multiparty politics occurred throughout Sub-Saharan Africa with remarkable speed in the early 1990s, linking the region to the broader ‘third wave of democratisation’ which, from 1974, progressively marked many areas of southern Europe, Latin America and post-communist Europe. Unlike most earlier cases of political reform, however, the changes in Sub-Saharan Africa demonstrated a strong external orientation. A unique combination of donor pressure, internal opposition and ‘snowballing’ led regimes to rapidly introduce multiparty politics regardless of whether ruling elites in fact supported democratisation. The particular constraints surrounding these transitions place much of Sub-Saharan Africa at high risk of civil violence. Drawing on the cases of Cameroon, Rwanda and Kenya, this article argues that, during transitional periods, the greater the conflict between ruling elites and opposition forces, and the greater the pressure which regimes face to proceed with reform, the greater the likelihood that states will sponsor ‘informal repression’, covert violations by third parties, to regain political control.

scholarly journals Imported bancroftian filariasis discovered in a patient infected with Plasmodium falciparum: First case of concomitant parasitism in the Al-Buraimi Governorate, Oman

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Muqeet Ullah ◽  
Ahmed Yar Mohammed Dawood Al Balushi ◽  
Nader Rahid Salim Al Aliyani ◽  
Biju Kalarikkal ◽  
Reeher Ian C. Miranda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wuchereria Bancrofti ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Global Burden ◽  
Bancroftian Filariasis ◽  
African Region ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
Anopheles Species ◽  
First Case ◽  
Nigerian Woman ◽  
Sub Saharan

Malaria and lymphatic filariasis (LF) are endemic in tropical and subtropical regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Ninety-two percent (200 million) of malaria cases in 2017 were detected in the WHO African Region. This accounts for approximately 30% of the global burden of LF disease and includes 405.9 million people at risk in 39 out of 46 member countries. Anopheles species of mosquitoes transmit Wuchereria bancrofti in most parts of Africa. Our case of a 23-year-old Nigerian woman highlights incidental laboratory findings showing the first malaria/filariasis coinfection in the governorate (province). This coinfection was ascertained during the usual medical screening before recruitment in Oman, which is routinely conducted for every expatriate.

scholarly journals Early estimates of COVID-19 infections in small, medium and large population clusters

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. e003055
Author(s):  
Amir Siraj ◽  
Alemayehu Worku ◽  
Kiros Berhane ◽  
Maru Aregawi ◽  
Munir Eshetu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Population ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Local Context ◽  
African Region ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionSince its emergence in late December 2019, COVID-19 has rapidly developed into a pandemic in mid of March with many countries suffering heavy human loss and declaring emergency conditions to contain its spread. The impact of the disease, while it has been relatively low in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as of May 2020, is feared to be potentially devastating given the less developed and fragmented healthcare system in the continent. In addition, most emergency measures practised may not be effective due to their limited affordability as well as the communal way people in SSA live in relative isolation in clusters of large as well as smaller population centres.MethodsTo address the acute need for estimates of the potential impacts of the disease once it sweeps through the African region, we developed a process-based model with key parameters obtained from recent studies, taking local context into consideration. We further used the model to estimate the number of infections within a year of sustained local transmissions under scenarios that cover different population sizes, urban status, effectiveness and coverage of social distancing, contact tracing and usage of cloth face mask.ResultsWe showed that when implemented early, 50% coverage of contact tracing and face mask, with 33% effective social distancing policies can bringing the epidemic to a manageable level for all population sizes and settings we assessed. Relaxing of social distancing in urban settings from 33% to 25% could be matched by introduction and maintenance of face mask use at 43%.ConclusionsIn SSA countries with limited healthcare workforce, hospital resources and intensive care units, a robust system of social distancing, contact tracing and face mask use could yield in outcomes that prevent several millions of infections and thousands of deaths across the continent.

scholarly journals Electoral Institutions and Electoral Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Fjelde ◽  
Kristine Höglund
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Dominant Mode ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Electoral Institutions ◽  
Voting Rules ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Electoral Violence ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Cross National

Political violence remains a pervasive feature of electoral dynamics in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, even where multiparty elections have become the dominant mode of regulating access to political power. With cross-national data on electoral violence in Sub-Saharan African elections between 1990 and 2010, this article develops and tests a theory that links the use of violent electoral tactics to the high stakes put in place by majoritarian electoral institutions. It is found that electoral violence is more likely in countries that employ majoritarian voting rules and elect fewer legislators from each district. Majoritarian institutions are, as predicted by theory, particularly likely to provoke violence where large ethno-political groups are excluded from power and significant economic inequalities exist.

scholarly journals Skills Training in the Informal Sector: Perspectives from Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Ayerki Lamptey ◽  
Yaw A. Debrah
Keyword(s):  
Informal Sector ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Government ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activities

Youth unemployment is a major concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Unemployment usually results from the lack of appropriate skills to enter the labour market. In Ghana, many enter the informal sector to train for a vocation, but the problem with acquiring skills in the informal sector is that the training is usually informal and unstructured. This article explores the modes of training in the informal sector to find out how the skills provided aid the employability of these workers. It provides empirical evidence to anchor policies on education and institutional policy prescriptions towards effectively equipping the youth with both employable and entrepreneurial skills that promote economic growth in the country. This research adopts a qualitative approach to explore training in the informal sector, and follows the grounded theory process to collect and analyse data. In all, 26 respondents were sampled using the purposive and convenience methods. The findings indicate that training designed for informal workers is not linked to the development agenda of the state, and the institutions are challenged in the execution of their mandates. Some beneficiaries are unable to implement their learning for lack of start-up capital, and they divert to other entrepreneurial activities as a survival strategy. The government needs to plan for the development of entrepreneurial skills in the informal sector, to extend the coverage of this development and to support the industrialisation agenda.

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