Module POL3227 for 2018/9
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL3227: Politics, Elections, and the State in Africa
This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.
Module Aims
This module aims to furnish you with the conceptual and analytical tools required to understand Africa’s evolving states and their politics. On completing the module, you will be able to critically engage with different conceptions of African statehood, understand the historical roots and evolution of the social identities driving politics in Africa, and evaluate past and present dangers to democracy on the continent. Through detailed case studies, you will gain in-depth knowledge of the history, culture, and contemporary politics of at least one country in Africa. The module aims to foster a genuine appreciation for the complexities of societies in Africa and inspire you to delve deeper into issues related to the governance of highly diverse states in Africa and beyond.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Critically engage with common conceptions of the African state and some of their critiques. 2. Substantively converse about Africa and contemporary African politics. 3. Critically assess the process of and challenges to nation-building in at least one African country. 4. Clearly articulate and evaluate some of the main challenges to good governance and democracy in Africa. |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 5. Understand theories of state-building, political parties, party competition, ethnic politics, and clientelistic politics, particularly as they relate to Africa. 6. Improve your understanding of the comparative method in Political Science. 7. Improve your grasp of elements of research design in Political Science. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. Demonstrate improved presentation, writing, and exposition skills. 9. Demonstrate improve analytical skills. 10. provide constructive feedback to peers. 11. synthesize empirical material and communicate it effectively. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Politics, elections, and the state: key concepts
- Colonial legacies and the state in Africa
- Ethnicity in Africa
- Nationalism in Africa
- Politics under authoritarianism/hegemonic party rule
- Politics under multi-party democracy
- Public goods provision, nation-building, and the state in Africa
- Elections and ethnic politics in Africa
- Clientelism and elections in Africa
- Political institutions for Africa’s plural societies: federal and unitary states
- Beyond ethnicity: new social cleavages and politics in Africa
- Challenges to democracy in Africa
- Case studies and student presentations
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 44 | 256 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching activity | 44 | 22 x 2 hour weekly seminars |
| Guided independent study | 80 | Seminar preparation, completion of weekly assigned readings |
| Guided independent study | 30 | Presentation preparation |
| Guided independent study | 146 | Essay and final paper preparation: reading, researching for, and drafting the essay, paper outline, and final paper for the class. |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
The following websites will be used to complement class readings and discussion:
Democracyinafrica.org
Africasacountry.com
Theelephant.info
Other Learning Resources
Students will be asked to listen to and reflect on at least one episode of BBC series “Focus on Africa”: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n13xtmgm each week.
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Basic reading:
Cheeseman, Nic. 2015. Democracy in Africa, Cambridge University Press
Hyden, Goran. 2006. African Politics in Comparative Perspective, Cambridge University Press
Chazan, Naomi. 1999. “The Diversity of African Politics: Trends and Approaches” in Chazan et. al. Politics and Society in Contemporary Africa”, Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Manning, Carrie. 2005. “Assessing African Party Systems after the Third Wave”, Party Politics 11:6, pp. 707-727.
Miguel, Edward. 2004. “Tribe or Nation? Nation-building and Public Goods in Kenya versus Tanzania”, World Politics 56:3, pp. 327-362.
Posner, Daniel. 2003. “The Colonial Origins of Ethnic Cleavages: The case of Linguistic Divisions in Zambia”, Comparative Politics 35: 22, pp. 127-146.
Bratton, Michael and Nicholas Van de Walle. 1997. Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, chapter 2.
Wantchekon, Leonard. 2003. “Clientelism and Voting Behavior: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Benin,” World Politics 55: 3, pp. 399?422.
Young, Crawford. 2002. “Deciphering Disorder in Africa: Is Identity the Key”, World Politics 54:4, pp. 532-557.
Ellis, Stephen. 1988. “Religion and Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Journal of Modern African Studies 36:2, pp. 175-201.
