An innovative analysis of political leadership in Africa between 1960 and 2018, drawing on an entirely new dataset.

This is the first biographical dictionary of major political leaders in sub-Saharan Africa since 1945, leaders who have made important and often determinative contributions to politics and government in their countries and in the region as a whole. Editor Harvey Glickman has brought together an international team of experts to profile fifty-three important heads of state, theorists, party leaders, and politicians from a representative group of African countries. An invaluable reference for libraries of all kinds, this dictionary will be useful to advanced scholars and neophytes alike in evaluating African leadership, national political systems, and contemporary world history in general. Glickman's introduction explains the criteria used for selecting the figures profiled and then describes what is involved in being a political leader in Africa in the late colonial period, in early independence, and now in the fourth decade of independence as new forms of government and leadership appear in Africa. Glickman remarks on the lack of women in high ranks of African politics and explores reasons for their notable absence. Each profile examines the role of the leader in history, the personal events of birth, tribal affiliation, education, early career, and rise to political power. Figures chosen represent a variety of types including founding fathers, radical opposition party leaders, conservatives, socialists, oppressive dictators, and philosophical theorists. Each entry has a bibliography of works by and about the leader. A chronology lists events in sub-Saharan politics from 1892 to 1991. A list of important figures by country and a short bibliography of general works on political leadership and change in Africa complete the volume.

This is the first biographical dictionary of major political leaders in sub-Saharan Africa since 1945, leaders who have made important and often determinative contributions to politics and government in their countries and in the region as a whole. Editor Harvey Glickman has brought together an international team of experts to profile fifty-three important heads of state, theorists, party leaders, and politicians from a representative group of African countries. An invaluable reference for libraries of all kinds, this dictionary will be useful to advanced scholars and neophytes alike in evaluating African leadership, national political systems, and contemporary world history in general. Glickman's introduction explains the criteria used for selecting the figures profiled and then describes what is involved in being a political leader in Africa in the late colonial period, in early independence, and now in the fourth decade of independence as new forms of government and leadership appear in Africa. Glickman remarks on the lack of women in high ranks of African politics and explores reasons for their notable absence. Each profile examines the role of the leader in history, the personal events of birth, tribal affiliation, education, early career, and rise to political power. Figures chosen represent a variety of types including founding fathers, radical opposition party leaders, conservatives, socialists, oppressive dictators, and philosophical theorists. Each entry has a bibliography of works by and about the leader. A chronology lists events in sub-Saharan politics from 1892 to 1991. A list of important figures by country and a short bibliography of general works on political leadership and change in Africa complete the volume.

Narratives of Triumph and Loss explores the successes, challenges and controversies of women‘s post-conflict political leadership. Through interviews with women who have held significant leadership positions, the book explores the relationships between their educational, professional, activist and personal backgrounds. It situates their stories within historical and contemporary political contexts, illustrating the gendered ways in which women experience politics as citizens and politicians.

How have African rulers responded to the introduction of democratic electoral competition? Despite the broadly negative picture painted by the prevailing focus on electoral fraud, clientelism, and ethnic conflict, the book argues that the full story is somewhat more promising. While these unfortunate practices may be widespread, African rulers also seek to win votes through the provision and distribution of public goods and services. The author's central argument is that in predominantly rural countries the introduction of competitive elections leads governments to implement pro-rural policies, in order to win the votes of the rural majority. As a result, across much of Africa the benefits of democratic electoral competition have accrued primarily in terms of rural development. This broad claim is supported by cross-national evidence, both from public opinion surveys and from individual level data on health and education outcomes. The argument's core assumptions about voting behavior are supported with quantitative evidence from Ghana, and qualitative historical evidence from Botswana presents further evidence for the underlying theoretical mechanism. Taken together, this body of evidence provides reasons to be optimistic about the operation of electoral accountability in Africa. African governments are responding to the accountability structures provided by electoral competition; in that sense, democracy in Africa is working. Oxford Studies in African Politics and International Relations is a series for scholars and students working on African politics and International Relations and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on contemporary developments in African political science, political economy, and International Relations, such as electoral politics, democratization, decentralization, the political impact of natural resources, the dynamics and consequences of conflict, and the nature of the continent's engagement with the East and West. Comparative and mixed methods work is particularly encouraged. Case studies are welcomed but should demonstrate the broader theoretical and empirical implications of the study and its wider relevance to contemporary debates. The series focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, although proposals that explain how the region engages with North Africa and other parts of the world are of interest. Series Editors: Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy and International Development, University of Birmingham; and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Professor of the International Politics of Africa, University of Oxford.

An analysis of land and natural resource conflict as a source of political violence, focusing on election violence in Kenya.

Since the 1950s David Apter and Carl Rosenberg have been among the leading American scholars in African Studies. In this volume they, along with other major specialists in the field, explore the new configurations of African politics. With tentative efforts at a revival of democracy now taking place, it seems appropriate to reasses the theoretical debates ad empirical themes that have characterized postwar Sub-Saharan African politics. Focusing on "new realism" that has emerged among Africanists since the dismantling of colonial rule, the essays are presented as a corrective both to the initial euphoria informing African studies and to the later tendency to place blame for all Africa's political and economic difficulties on the receding specter of colonial oppression.