Do political leaders matter for development in Africa? Political leaders south of the Sahara have taken centre stage since countries in the region gained independence in the 1960s, yet a 'leadership trap' soon emerged with power-holders overstaying in office and chronic instability caused by coups resulting in decades of disappointing developmental performances. The beginnings of change are found in political reforms of the early 1990s, with many sub-Saharan countries introducing multiparty elections and an increasingly regular succession of leaders. But what impact did the new mechanisms for selecting leaders have on the political stabilization of African states, on the growth of their economies, and on the welfare of ordinary citizens? Drawing on a new dataset called the Africa Leadership Change (ALC), this innovative analysis of political leadership in Africa investigates the distinct leadership dynamics of development processes across the region from 1960 to 2018, revealing how, as Africa began to change its leaders and the way they reach power, these new leaders themselves began to change Africa.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'The end of the Cold War set off a worldwide wave of democratization whose effects are still being catalogued and analyzed. How have Africa's new arrangements for choosing rulers, checking their power, and removing them by the will of the majority worked out? This study is sure to be the go-to source for answers to these questions, analyzing how the acquisition and distribution of power has evolved under Africa's new multiparty regimes - the accompanying online database is an invaluable resource for students and scholars wanting to gather additional facts on particular African rulers.' Arthur A. Goldsmith, Emeritus Professor, University of Massachusetts, Boston 'Carbone and Pellegata provide a powerful study on how leaders impact the success and failures of their countries in sub-Saharan Africa and how they reach power influences their behaviour and what they do too. Political Leadership in Africa is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the impact of leadership on democracy and development in sub-Saharan Africa today.' Alex Vines, Coventry University and Head of the Africa Programme, Chatham House '... empirically accomplished, well-researched study ... this is an extremely impressive scholarly work ... Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty. General readers.' C. E. Welch, Choice '... a significant achievement.' Kai M. Thaler, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für Beruf und Forschung
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Produkt-Hinweis
Illustrationen
Worked examples or Exercises; 25 Tables, black and white; 1 Maps; 23 Halftones, black and white
Maße
Höhe: 228 mm
Breite: 153 mm
Dicke: 25 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-108-43831-5 (9781108438315)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Giovanni Carbone is Professor of Political Science at the Università degli Studi di Milano and Head of the Africa Programme at ISPI (Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale). His research focuses on the comparative study of politics, geopolitics and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. He has been the Principal Investigator of a European Research Council (ERC) funded research project and is the author of articles in journals including Governance, Journal of Development Studies and Journal of Modern African Studies.
Autor*in
Universita degli Studi di Milano
Universita degli Studi di Milano
Introduction; 1. Leadership, politics and development; 2. Coming to power and using it: leaders' selection, change and government performance; 3. The Africa Leadership Change (ALC) dataset; 4. The changing dynamics of African leadership: rulers before and after 1990; 5. When the military strikes; 6. Lessening Africa's 'big men': term limits; 7. Leading for development? (I): economic growth; 8. Leading for development? (II): social welfare, state consolidation and corruption control; 9. Autocrats, hegemons, democrats and transients; 10. Leaders to come.
