Literary feature reviews

Taking stock of dead people: Argentina's reflections on the ‘Dirty War’ years

A State of Fear: Memories of Argentina's Nightmare. Andrew Graham‐Yooll, London: Eland. 1986. 180pp. £9.95hb/£4.95pb

Requiem for a Woman's Soul. Omar Rivabella, London: Penguin. 1986. 116pp. £2.95pb

The Duke: Memories and Antimemories of a Participant in the Repression. Enrique Medina, London: Zed. 1985. 120pp. £8.95hb/£3.95pb

The Shadow by the Door. Gerardo Di Masso, London: Zed. 1986. 96pp. £8.95hb/£3.95pb

The Long Night of Frncisco Sanctis. Humberto Costantini, London: Fontana. 1985. 184pp. £3.50pb

Caribbean contrasts

Frangipani House. Beryl Gilroy, 1986. 111pp. £3.50pb

Apata: The Story of a Reluctant Criminal. Harold A Bascom, 1986. 279pp. £3.95pb

Beka Lamb. Zee Edgell, 1986. 171pp. £3.50pb

The Wine of Astonishment. Earl Lovelace, 1986. 146pp. £3.50pb

The Lights on the Hill. Garth St Omer, 1986. 119pp. £3.50pb

London: Heinemann Educational Books (Caribbean Writers Series)     

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.     

Nomenklatura democratization: Electoral clientelism in post‐soviet Ukraine

Electoral clientelism could represent a significant threat to democratic consolidation in post‐communist states. Recent elections in Ukraine provide a prime example of the way in which communist‐era elites have been able to use electoral mechanisms to launder their political resources. Evidence suggests that economic disarray has created a situation in which large sectors of the electorate are willing to have their votes bought by political machines, rather than having them won through competition between parties offering different policy packages. Clientelism of this type appears to be engaged in by two types of political actor in Ukraine: left wing parties and individual members of the economic and political elite.     

Crafting competitive party systems: Electoral laws and the opposition in Africa

After the resurgence of democracy in the 1990s, as was the case after independence, dominant party systems are predominant in Africa. This has occurred irrespective of the particular electoral system used. Both scholars and practitioners have so far failed to appreciate the fact that not fragmentation but concentration of the party system is the main challenge and that a choice between proportional representation or a plurality electoral system will do little to change the fortunes of the majority party and the opposition. This article goes beyond the current debate by suggesting that opposition parties in Africa could be crafted through a minority premium, preferably in combination with a majority ceiling. Such electoral engineering would in the long‐term contribute to the emergence of a two‐party system, generally recognized as the environment most congenial to a strong parliamentary opposition. In the short‐term, adoption of a minority premium would increase competitiveness.     

Early Women Law Students at Cambridge and Oxford

This article examines the hitherto neglected history of the twelve women who studied law at Cambridge and Oxford in the years up to 1900. It concludes that the reason why so little has been written about them is, first, because women's experience has been routinely ignored in accounts of legal education (and in history generally) and, second, because their entry to the university law schools was accomplished with very little fuss or opposition. This in turn was due not only to the fact that the law professors were generally sympathetic to higher education for women but also because the women themselves did not challenge university traditions or the men's curriculum.     

Teaching method: A basis for discussion

Skilled professionals such as lawyers are imperative for any society. Their training is even more critical, as it shapes their eventual role in transforming society. They play an important role since the law influences literally all aspects of our lives. My thesis here is that the “market” for lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa is dictated by the stage of societal development. Thus their training must be focused on the present and projected needs of the particular society. So, what role do academics play in realising this long-term goal? Academics must wear many hats as thinkers and scholars, teachers and mentors. They must influence philosophical paradigms of teaching for local relevance. They must deconstruct the “market” to decipher its meaning – are they training professionals for local service or for emigration? Thus, examining the place of the university academic in the training process, this paper investigates the situation, and makes policy-level remedial proposals.     

The EU–ACP development cooperation – governance challenges for non‐state actors: the case of Malawi

The European Development Consensus 2005 contains a broad policy re‐statement of the EU’s world view vis‐à‐vis its internal and external relations. It places poverty eradication and sustainable development at the heart of its policy. The context within which poverty eradication is pursued is an increasingly globalised and interdependent world that constantly creates new opportunities and challenges. Combating global poverty is seen by both parties not only as a moral obligation; rather as a building block for a more stable, peaceful, prosperous and equitable world, reflecting the interdependency of its richer and poorer countries. The EU has in its relations with the African, Pacific and Caribbean countries, past and present, pursued a development agenda via successive aid and development cooperation arrangements starting with the Yaoundé I convention, through Lomé to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA). In this article I reflect on the CPA, based on a corpus of shared objectives, principles and the Lomé ‘acquis’ in relation to Malawi non‐state actors (NSAs). I reflect on the opportunities and challenges it presents and how contemplated social dialogue between government and NSAs on the one hand and the EU can translate into poverty reduction, sustainable development and integration of the local economy to the global economy. I conclude that unlike its predecessors, Yaoundé and Lomé conventions, the CPA acknowledges the complementary role of NSAs in the development process, however NSAs in Malawi face constraints in terms of organisation and capacity building that affects their participation. What I do not do is to offer a discussion of the CPA as a whole, for that is outside the scope of this article, but rather have focused on the governance aspect vis‐à‐vis NSAs.