A Democracy Of Chameleons

Author : Harri Englund
Publisher : Nordic Africa Institute
ISBN 13 : 9789171064998
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Democracy of Chameleons written by Harri Englund and published by Nordic Africa Institute. This book was released on 2002 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After thirty years of autocratic rule under "Life President" Kamuzu Banda, Malawians experienced a transition to multi-party democracy in 1994. A new constitution and several democratic institutions promised a new dawn in a country ravaged by poverty and injustice. This book presents original research on the economic, social, political and cultural consequences of the new era. A new generation of scholars, most of them from Malawi, cover virtually every issue causing debate in the New Malawi: poverty and hunger, the plight of civil servants, the role of the judiciary, political intolerance and hate speech, popular music as a form of protest, clergy activism, voluntary associations and ethnic revival, responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and controversies over women's rights. Both chameleon-like leaders and the donors of Malawi's foreign aid come under critical scrutiny for supporting superficial democratization. The book ends with a rare public statement on the New Malawi by Jack Mapanje, Malawi'sinternationally acclaimed writer.

Author : Olivier Rubin
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136865411
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Democracy and Famine written by Olivier Rubin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Famine is the most extreme manifestation of the existence of poverty, inequality and political apathy. Whereas poverty, hunger and diseases are not easily eradicated in the world today, famines are often perceived to be relatively simple to avert. However, the political incentives to prevent famines are not always present. Inspired by the work of Amartya Sen, whose influential hypothesis that democratic institutions together with a free press provide effective protection from famine, Democracy and Famine is a study combining qualitative and quantitative evidence, analysing the effect of democracy on famine prevention. The book’s overall framework moves from placing political systems at the heart of famine protection to look at the political processes involved. Using a case study based approach drawing on famines from India, Malawi and Niger; Democracy and Famine will be of interest to scholars and students of democracy, comparative politics and international relations.

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198890184
Total Pages : 705 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on with total page 705 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Lisa Gilman
Publisher : Temple University Press
ISBN 13 : 1592139868
Total Pages : 269 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Dance of Politics written by Lisa Gilman and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-07 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Election campaigns, political events, and national celebration days in Malawi usually feature groups of women who dance and perform songs of praise for politicians and political parties. However, as Lisa Gilman explains, inThe Dance of Politics, "praise performing" is one of the few ways that poor women are allowed to participate in a male-dominated political system in which issues of gender, economics, and politics collide in surprising ways. Along with its solid grounding in the relevant literature,The Dance of Politicsdraws strength from Gilman's first-hand observations and her interviews with a range of participants in the political process, from dancers to politicians.

Author : Rachel Ellett
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135965986
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Pathways to Judicial Power in Transitional States written by Rachel Ellett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-21 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the complex relationship that exists between the construction of judicial power, and the institutional characteristics of the courts and their regime setting. It examines the intriguing connection between the construction of judicial power on the one hand, and the institutional characteristics of the courts and regime setting on the other. The book asks whether courts are rendered powerful by virtue of their institutional characteristics or by a supportive, perhaps acquiescent, regime setting. By analyzing the historical pathways of courts in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi, this book argues that the emergence of judicial power since the colonial period, though fraught with many challenges, presents a unique opportunity for consolidating democracy. The book examines in detail the significant political decisions of the upper-level courts in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi from the colonial period to the present day, analyzing them in relation to changes in the political environment over time. Analysis of these decisions is also supplemented by in-depth interviews with judges, lawyers and other important stakeholders in the judicial processes. This book demonstrates that even in the most challenging regime environments, effective institutions and determined individuals can push back against interference and issue politically powerful, independent decisions but the way in which judiciaries respond to this regime pressure varies enormously across countries and regions.

Author : N. Gaynor
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 0230275230
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Transforming Participation? written by N. Gaynor and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-04 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do participatory processes open a political space to marginalized groups and individuals? Or do they co-opt and coerce groups to reinforce existing inequitable relations? In an innovative comparative study which breaks with tradition this book explores these questions by looking at Malawi and Ireland.

Author : Molly Sundberg
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 113758422X
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Training for Model Citizenship written by Molly Sundberg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the state in post-genocide Rwanda through an ethnography of a state-run civic education program and everyday forms of government. In 2007, the Rwandan government introduced a nationwide civic education program, called Itorero, to teach all inhabitants about its vision of the model Rwandan citizen. Since then, this ideal has been pursued through remote training camps, village assemblies, and daily government practices. Based on ethnographic research of the life and workings of Itorero camps and the day-to-day administration of a local neighborhood in Kigali, this book investigates how such a pursuit has come to affect Rwandans’ relation to the state and what it may tell us about modern forms of authoritarian rule.

Author : Dan Banik
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317407539
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.39/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi written by Dan Banik and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-10 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Malawi is among the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa that has witnessed significant improvements in relation to meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. It exhibits some of the main challenges facing African democracies while they attempt to consolidate the benefits of democratisation. Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi critically analyses opportunities and constraints related to the impact of democracy on development in one of the world’s poorest countries. The book explores how, and to what extent, processes related to democratic and economic governance can be strengthened in order to make political and administrative authorities more responsive to development needs. It also considers characteristics of successful implementation of public policy and the effective and timely delivery of basic services in local contexts; increased citizen participation and dialogue with local government authorities; factors that enable civil society organisations to hold political and administrative officials to account; and better utilisation of academic research for improved evidence-based policy formulation and implementation. This volume will be of great interest to scholars in development studies, African studies, politics, law and anthropology, as well as policymakers and those interested in democracy, governance, human rights and the implementation of anti-poverty programmes, development administration and decentralisation.

Author :
Publisher : African Books Collective
ISBN 13 : 9996076296
Total Pages : 606 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Promises, Power, Politics and Poverty written by and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2024-05-03 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Banda's thirty-year rule was the subject of Lwanda's earlier book Kamuzu Banda of Malawi: a Study in Promise, Power and Paralysis, the first edition of which was in 1993. Now the small Southern African nation of Malawi has been a multiparty democracy since the first multiparty elections on 17 May 1994. The first multiparty dispensation, under the United Democratic Front's President Bakili Muluzi, experienced both startling successes and fantastic failures. Since then, the paralysing poverty has persisted, yet the once silent land is resonating with freedom of speech, free universal primary school education, an independent judiciary... The first incarnation of this book was written in 1996, three years before the elections of 1999. At the time, some of the critical political questions then were: Could the UDF begin delivering on their pledges on poverty alleviation and development? Was the MCP capable of genuinely reforming itself? Could AFORD survive? Could democracy itself survive in Malawi? Could a new cadre of leadership emerge; one that was both unencumbered by the Banda legacy and which spoke for both rich and poor, rural and urban? These are some of the issues discussed in Promises, Power, Politics and Poverty the Democratic Transition in Malawi. This book is still, by far, the most detailed account of the political transition of 1991 to 1994, containing details of the origins of the UDF and AFORD, and charting the rise and fall of the Diaspora-based political parties. It also critically examined the performance of the new government up to 1996. It is an essential comprehensive reading for all those interested in the turbulent politics of Malawi, from 1961 to the present. It has dozens of illuminative pictures and anecdotes. "Lwanda is the kind of writer who wants to put everything in..." Landeg White, (Emeritus Director, Centre for Southern African Studies, York University). "He writes with deep knowledge, commendable compassion, and often remarkable analytical insight. This analysis of a complex political situation in Malawi since the defeat of Dr. Banda deserves to be considered very carefully by anyone who has the future of Africa, especially central Africa, at questions at heart" (Professor George Shepperson).

Author : Bjorn Beckman
Publisher : Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN 13 : 1848131488
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4.84/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Intellectuals and African Development written by Bjorn Beckman and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2008-02-29 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at the very different responses to the African predicament from prominent writers like Soyinka, Ngugi and Achebe, to the military men in power and the students who defy repression. It suggests that intervention by international agencies who claim to promote 'democracy' and 'empower the youth' may reinforce authoritarian attitudes and structures. The essays in the book give voice to the outrage, ridicule and revolutionary ardour, as well as to the reformist caution, of those directly affected. The shallow pretences of those in power and the hypocrisy and arrogance of the foreign helpers are also exposed. The book concludes that being an 'insider' or an 'outsider' is less important than being committed to listening to ordinary people.