Institutional legitimacy in Sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

How do personal encounters with legal institutions shape citizens’ confidence in those institutions throughout sub-Saharan Africa? Using Afrobarometer’s cross-national citizen survey, we show that negative first-hand experiences with government courts and police erode citizens’ trust in those state institutions but do not tend to disrupt citizens’ perceptions of their authority to arbitrate or enforce the law. Individuals from diverse demographic backgrounds imbue state institutions with the right to perform their governance and law-enforcement duties, even after experiencing institutional incompetence or injustice. This article advances existing comparative research on legal institutions, which tends to conflate trust and legitimacy and overlooks the distinction between de facto performance and de jure authority. We suggest that rule-of-law institutions have deeper roots than some scholars have previously supposed.     

Development policy and the democratic peace in Sub-Saharan Africa

The contention that ‘democracies do not ?ght one another’ has gained widespread acceptance in the discipline of international relations, as well as among policymakers and international institutions. In the post-Cold War era, this contention has formed part of the justi?cation for making development assistance conditional on democratic reforms in recipient countries. This article explores the democratic peace thesis in relation to Sub-Saharan Africa, and argues that the relationship between peace and democracy is much more complex than commonly allowed for in conventional liberal analyses. Contemporary development policies that are intended to promote peace, democracy and stability are frequently implicated in the production and continuation of con?ict. Accordingly, the article contends that many of Africa’s conflicts and so-called ‘failed states’ are best understood in light of policies inspired, in part, by the principles of the democratic peace thesis. The argument is illustrated with reference to four countries on the African continent: Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zambia.     

非洲清洁生产的兴起

本文意在对撒哈拉以南非洲国家中企业应用环境清洁技术的程度做经验性的考察.文章用坦桑尼亚和津巴布韦清洁生产情况报告做材料,指出清洁生产的兴起毫无例外都是由外部因素引起,而不是源自企业内部.文章还将辨析阻碍非洲企业采用环境清洁技术的因素,特别是清洁技术在向非洲转让过程中的问题.     

关于撒哈拉以南非洲政局走势的研判

北非动荡不仅对中东阿拉伯世界造成直接的冲击,而且对撒哈拉以南非洲政局也构成潜在的影响。在此背景下,由于确实存在诸多有可能引发动荡的社会政治经济因素,撒哈拉以南非洲局部,即某些国家的政局动荡或许难免,但总体稳定的态势不会改变;即便一些撒哈拉以南非洲国家发生动乱,在性质上亦有别于北非国家,更不会像北非地区那样产生扩散效应,覆盖整个次区域,原因在于撒哈拉以南非洲国家在民族结构、宗教信仰、文化传统,特别是政治改革和政治治理等方面均与包括北非在内的中东阿拉伯国家存在较大差异。总体稳定、局部动荡仍不失为非洲政局之常态。     

德国对撒哈拉以南非洲外交战略探析

德国外交部自 2 0 0 1年 4月陆续出台的《对撒哈拉以南非洲外交战略》 ,全面阐述了本世纪初德国对撒哈拉以南非洲外交政策的指导思想及具体策略。德国视角下的撒哈拉以南非洲与国际社会的看法大体一致。德国对撒哈拉以南非洲的外交战略显示出以下突出特点 :强调在联合国特别是欧盟框架内进行 ,具有比较明显的政治化倾向 ,提倡通过对话来解决争端 ,突出“帮助与自助”的原则。当今 ,德国对非洲外交战略的动机和效果值得人们关注     

从市民社会概念考察非洲民主化进程

非洲是否存在市民社会?如果存在,与西方的市民社会有何异同之处?是否一样可以用来作为社会民主化程度的标识?如果没有,非洲社会的民主又是怎样的形态?本文从梳理市民社会概念入手,结合非洲社会自身的特色,探讨非洲是否必然历经西方民主化道路的问题。     

Civil Society,Democratization, and Foreign Aid: Civic Engagement and Public Policy in South Africa and Uganda

Drawing on comparative research in South Africa and Uganda, this article examines how far civil society organizations influence government policy and legislation and extend citizen participation in public affairs. The article also considers how far external funding influences policy engagement and outcomes. The main finding is that few civil society organizations have either a consistent level of engagement in the policy process or make a significant difference to policy outcomes. The nature of internal governance practices in galvanizing citizens' voices and the relationship to the state and political parties are the most decisive factors in civil society organizations achieving policy influence. The article concludes that the capacity of civil society organizations to offer citizens a say in decisions and to enhance pluralism may be as important as their ability to influence policy and demand accountability from state actors.     

Sustainable investments: Women's contributions to natural resource management projects in Africa

Can prospects for improving livelihood security and building sustainable environments in Africa be increased if women have greater influence in decisions about how to manage resources? Anecdotal evidence suggests that this question should be answered in the affirmative, yet few development agencies perform systematic evaluations with gender-disaggregated data despite nearly two decades of development literature describing the pitfalls of failing to do so. This paper explores this question through analysis of cases from Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi, The Gambia, and Rwanda gleaned from a literature search of more than 50 natural resource management projects across Africa. It highlights enabling conditions which facilitate effective involvement of both men and women in natural resource management, and develops indicators to clarify progress in terms of impact, process, and sustainability.     

Democratization and communal politics

Understanding the complex interplay between democratization and communal politics is a crucial issue for students of democracy and political practitioners. Political liberalization can exacerbate communal politics, which can then bring setbacks to democratization, even violent conflict. As prospects of political liberalization grow in a society marked by a lack of agreement on the form of the state, communal politics will shape inter‐group relations. There is an in‐group‐out‐group dilemma. The dilemma is rooted in two, potentially mutually conflicting imperatives. Democratization requires group leaders to engage in compromise and negotiation. But they may also face an imperative to promote self‐styled conceptions of the state‐idea to suit the needs of group cohesion, especially where relations between groups become highly politicised. Two factors condition whether or not the dilemma can be resolved: the strategies of the legitimate leadership of the groups, and the ‘ideological’ landscape within the groups. The argument is applied to case studies that compare Algeria and South Africa.     

对非洲民主化的再思考

20世纪90年代初,随着冷战结束,在西方的强力推动下,政治民主化浪潮席卷非洲大陆。短短几年内,绝大多数非洲国家都改行西方多党议会民主制。非洲民主化虽然使非洲国家的人民获得了一定的公民权利和民主意识,也有助于一些国家的政治稳定,但由于先天不足和脱离实际,西式民主化对不少非洲国家造成了严重后果:加剧了社会矛盾、政治动荡和经济困境,人民生活不升反降。这些引起了非洲国家对民主化进行反思,转而探索走符合自身国情的民主道路。西方国家为了自身利益,不希望非洲动乱,对其民主化进程不再随意搞“揠苗助长”。未来非洲民主化的走势将更多地体现非洲特色,趋于渐进和平稳。     

Anti-Corruption Strategies and Democratization in Bosnia-Herzegovina

There is an international consensus that corruption undermines the democratic process and the legitimacy of government. Anti-corruption strategies are increasingly becoming an integral part of democratization programmes in non-western states. Where there are doubts over the effectiveness of these programmes they have tended to be expressed in relation to the level of social and economic development necessary to ensure a separation between private and public spheres. The experience of extensive international anti-corruption policies in Bosnia provides an opportunity to assess the relationship between anti-corruption initiatives and democratization in the European context. Taking a broad systemic approach to tackling political corruption, it was assumed that international policy in this area could strengthen the authority of democratic political institutions, encourage public participation and rebuild relations of trust within and between communities. This study of the impact of systemic anti-corruption strategies focuses on the effectiveness of these initiatives in meeting democratization goals. The results have been disappointing. The reasons for this may lie in the initial assumptions, not because they assume a higher level of social and economic development than Bosnian society has attained but because they have a narrow reductive view of the political process.     

非洲民主化进程研究的重要成果——《非洲国家民主化进程研究》评介

自从上世纪80年代末、90年代初“多党民主化”浪潮席卷非洲大陆以来,国内非洲问题学者陆续发表了不少从不同角度探讨和分析非洲民主化问题的论文。笔者不揣浅陋,也曾于1992年写了一篇题为《“多党民主”———90年代非洲政治发展的主要趋向》的文章,刊登在当年的《西亚非洲资料》第二期上。虽然在一些学者论述非洲政党制度、政治发展、民族主义的相关著作中,也包含了非洲民主化变革的部分内容,但全面、系统地论述和剖析非洲民主化进程的专著,贺文萍研究员的新著《非洲国家民主化进程研究》还是国内第一部。可喜!可贺!我认为:《非洲国家民主…     

拉丁美洲民主化与可治理性问题分析

20世纪90年代以来,关于拉美民主化进程的研究已经从关注民主转型转变为分析民主体制的巩固、质量和治理问题.民主政治体制确立以后的具体制度安排与运作是一个社会能否实现可治理性的关键因素之一.民主政治的竞争、参与、问责等诉求与民主体制的稳定、秩序和效率等要求构成某种紧张的关系,体现在拉美国家政府组织的基本形式即总统制及其与政党、选举、司法等制度的相互关系之中.这种情况在拉美各国虽有差异,但探讨其一般特征仍不失为分析民主体制现状和前途的一种思路,也是民主化以后拉丁美洲可治理性研究中首先要加以认识的问题.     

欧盟与伊朗民主化进程

一、欧盟推进伊朗民主化进程的背景与动机 随着冷战的结束，美苏阵营所代表的资本主义与共产主义意识形态的冲突不再作为世界的主要矛盾而存在，而与此同时，西方世界面临法西斯主义和共产主义的威胁而与中东伊斯兰世界的良好合作局面被美国与伊斯兰世界的冲突所取代。弗朗西斯·福山在冷战行将结束时再度提出了黑格尔、鲍德里亚、利奥塔尔等人均提出过的“历史的终结”论，认为冷战的结束意味着“市场经济”与“民主政治”是世界发展的终极目标。     

Democratization in Mozambique: Trends and practices

This article explores the nature of party political competition four years after Mozambique's first democratic national elections, with particular attention being accorded to the democratization of local government. It commences with an overview of the nature of contemporary party politics in Mozambique. Secondly, the democratization of local government is reviewed. Thirdly, recent political developments are located within the context of major economic reconstruction and escalating corruption. It is concluded that whilst Mozambique does have a stable multi‐party system in the formal sense at least, the substance of genuine multi‐partyism remains elusive, given the near‐total lack of policy alternatives and the proliferation of corruption at the highest levels of political life.     

Democratization and party development in Eastern Europe

Awareness of the problems of prediction has come to the fore with the ending of the cold war and uncertainty has become a major feature of areas affected by it, not least the countries of eastern Europe in relation to the development of democratic institutions and practices. Party development is a central part of this process and one recent attempt to theorize it directs attention, rather like the approach taken by modern chaos theory, to the persistent influence of starting conditions and a particular blend of lightly structured growth from a more tightly coordinated set of preconditions. This framework is applied to the complex developments in post‐communist Poland, and three families of political parties are identified by applying Panebianco's genetic model. The components of this model are, it is argued, quite useful in accounting for the relative success of post‐communist parties and the failure of the political formations that derived from the previously authoritative Solidarity movement.     

尼日利亚民主化:特点及问题

尼日利亚的民主化以扑朔迷离的轨迹引发了无数学者浓厚的研究兴趣。尼日利亚的民主化遭受了很多挫折,但迈向持久民主的艰难步伐一直没有停止,即使是在旷日持久的军人执政时期也是如此。尼日利亚民主化面临的重大挑战虽自该国独立后就一直存在,但这些问题出现的新情况却需要用新的视角去审视,用新的方式去应对。只有这样,尼日利亚才能早日跨入现代民主国家的行列。     

军事政变和独裁交替下的泰国民主化道路——泰国民主化的特征与未来

比其他亚洲国家起步早的泰国民主化道路走得并不平坦,军事政变和政治独裁的交替似乎成为了近70多年来泰国政治的主线。这种奇特的政治现象和泰国的政治文化、宗教意识、教育水平、社会结构等因素密切联系在一起。最初由精英发起的泰国民主化运动,如果得不到整个国民的回应,没有获得成熟市民社会的支持,真正的民主主义也就不可能在泰国扎根。     

印度尼西亚民主化进程的评价与展望

本文通过对印度尼西亚几年来民主化进程的考察 ,分析其在民主改革和社会进步方面取得的成就与面临的困境 ,并对其未来的走势加以判断。