Most African states experienced only a few fleeting years of democratic rule after independence before succumbing to authoritarianism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Africans and Westerners alike came to view dictatorship to be as much a part of the region’s social landscape as its grinding poverty. Yet the end of the Cold War and the sharpening of the economic crisis at the end of the 1980s have breathed new life into campaigns for democracy in Africa, shaking the foundations of many long-standing autocracies. In some cases, dramatic transitions took place, though the fate of the new democracies is far from certain. This volume explores the origins and evolution of political reform movements in several states of francophone Africa. The authors first make the case for the distinctiveness of francophone Africa, based on the influences of colonial history, language, and France’s contemporary role in Africa, then survey the challenges of reform, including the problems of transition from authoritarianism and consolidation of democratic regimes. Case studies of thirteen former French and Belgian colonies follow, organized by level of reform achieved: peaceful regime change, incremental reforms, repressed reform efforts, and reform in the midst of war.

Most African states experienced only a few fleeting years of democratic rule after independence before succumbing to authoritarianism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Africans and Westerners alike came to view dictatorship to be as much a part of the region's social landscape as its grinding poverty. Yet the end of the Cold War and the sharpening of the economic crisis at the end of the 1980s have breathed new life into campaigns for democracy in Africa, shaking the foundations of many long-standing autocracies. In some cases, dramatic transitions took place, though the fate of the new democracies is far from certain.This volume explores the origins and evolution of political reform movements in several states of Francophone Africa. The authors first make the case for the distinctiveness of Francophone Africa, based on the influences of colonial history, language, and France's contemporary role in Africa, then survey the challenges of reform, including the problems of transition from authoritarianism and consolidation of democratic regimes. Case studies of thirteen former French and Belgium colonies follow, organized by level of reform achieved: peaceful regime change, incremental reforms, repressed reform efforts, and reform in the mist of war.

Most African states experienced only a few fleeting years of democratic rule after independence before succumbing to authoritarianism. During the 1970s and 1980s, Africans and Westerners alike came to view dictatorship to be as much a part of the region's social landscape as its grinding poverty. Yet the end of the Cold War and the sharpening of th

First published in 1998, This book is written by seasoned scholars of African Studies and it intended to make a significant contribution to the debate on democracy and democratization in the continent. It contains a rich mixture of analytical ideas and views on the transition to accountable, participatory, and democratic governance structures in Africa. It provides both students of African political economy and policymakers in the continent and in-depth analysis of the post-independence experience of African countries with institutional reforms. Specifically, it looks at the struggles of Africans, since independence, to provide themselves with more appropriate and viable governance structures and economic systems that enhance the ability to entrepreneurs to create wealth. The Book breaks new ground in that it places significant emphasis on the reconstruction of the neo-colonial state as an important first step to a successful transition to democratic and more accountable governance structures.

The world's financial markets are rapidly integrating into a single global marketplace, and developing countries are being drawn into this process starting from different points and moving at various speeds. Those with adequate institutions and sound policies in place may proceed smoothly along the road toward financial integration and gain the many benefits that integration can bring. Most of the developing economies lack many of the necesssary prerequisites for such a move; a few are so unprepared that integration may do them more harm than good. Developing countries may have little choice about whether to follow this path'advances in communications and new developments in finance have made the course inevitable'but they may still choose the ways in which they proceed, choosing the policies that benefit the economy and averting potential shocks. This World Bank report looks at the important challenges both sets of countries face in a new age of global capital. The book presents new and compelling evidence that, while low interest rates in industrial countries provided an initial impetus to the surge in private capital flows during 1989-93, these flows have entered a new phase, driven by increased financial integration . The report analyzes the causes and effects of integration, with a particular emphasis on how developing countries in the nascent stages of integration can learn from the experiences of the more rapidly integrating developing countries.

This book presents a series of essays by leading English and French scholas examining the politics, economics, international relations and defects of the literary scene of France and the former territories of francophone West Africa since 1965. The approach is emphatically a thematic one rather than a country-by-country analysis.

The author provides extra coverage of both North and South Africa and of such key issues as debt, the AIDS epidemic, the position of women and the politics of patronage."--BOOK JACKET.