Exploitation dressed in a suit,shining shoes,and carrying a suitcase full of dollars: What does China want in Africa?

China has provided billions of dollars in loans to African countries with no strings attached compared with Western financial aid. Although the argument that China is exploiting Africa for its resources has often clouded Beijing's continued support for Africa, many African leaders have welcomed China's economic assistance and have begun to see China as a more reliable partner compared with the West. By strictly examining relevant literature on Sino–African relations, this study comprehensively explores the dynamics, implications, and benefits of Chinese investments in Africa. Whether China is indeed exploiting Africa, which will continue to be debated, it is clear that Chinese investments have contributed significantly to the development of Africa and will continue to do so as the West has been replaced by Beijing as Africa's biggest trading partner. African countries are therefore likely to continue strengthening their relationship with China further jeopardising the interests of West in the continent.     

Planning for substainable development: Insights from the literatures of political science

Abstract. Over the past decade European political leaders have increasingly come to refer to 'sustainable development' as a legitimate focus of government activity. Starting from the premises that sustainable development is a complex and contested ideal, and that experiences with state planning in the twentieth century have been deeply ambiguous, this article reflects on the insights which political science can shed on the new social project of 'planning for sustainable development'. The discussion centres on three relevant political science literatures — meta critiques of planning, 'new governance' debates, and enquiries into policy related learning. Consideration of these perspectives suggest that to the extent that it is possible for 'planning for sustainable development' to attain its declared objectives this will depend upon the integration of sustainable development norms into existing planning structures and modalities, the extensive development of co–operative management initiatives, and vigorous debates about alternative futures. Coordination among the inevitably disjointed and partially contradictory efforts of multiple agencies will rely upon the integrative potential of the sustainable development norm, central government initiatives, and collision, negotiation and mutual adjustment.     

Human Rights,Intellectual Property,and Struggles for Recognition

This article examines recent controversies over the relationship between human rights and intellectual property rights (IPRs). Many activists have claimed that IPRs conflict with human rights. Others have argued that IPRs are themselves human rights. The article approaches the debate as an opportunity to clarify the nature of IPRs in relation to human rights, as well as the nature of contemporary struggles over these rights. After surveying the dual expansion of both human rights and IPRs and rejecting the view that IPRs are rooted in human rights, the author investigates the example of the HIV/AIDS crisis and the global Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines in order to illustrate attempts to represent IPRs as an outright threat to human rights. Highlighting the limitations of a human rights-based critique of IPRs, he concludes by proposing to study contemporary conflicts over IPRs and human rights as struggles for recognition and as struggles over the institutionalization of a transnational “recognition order.”

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Implementing eGovernment without promoting dependence: open source software in developing countries in Southeast Asia

Given that eGovernment is likely to become part of development strategies, the most desirable form of eGovernment is that which promotes the domestic generation of intellectual property or, at least, contributes least to the international intellectual property (IP) imbalance. One way to achieve these ends is to implement eGovernment using free or open source software (FOSS). This will reduce dependence on software owned by major companies in developed countries. It could also promote an IP generating capacity in developing countries. An examination of the status of free or open source software in developing countries in Southeast Asia reveals that governments in these countries are aware of FOSS and wish to foster its use (but face considerable pressure to use proprietary software). This examination also reveals the presence of small but active groups seeking to develop and promote the use of free or open source software. This article is comprised of a discussion of FOSS (including that suitable for eGovernment), an explanation of the importance of FOSS for developing countries, a justification of government's centrality to the introduction of FOSS and a consideration of policies and initiatives undertaken by governments in developing countries in Southeast Asia. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Privatisation in Botswana: the demise of a developmental state?

This article argues that efforts by the Government of Botswana to embark on privatisation of some parastatals as well as contracting out the provision of certain services with the main intention of enhancing productivity and strengthening the private sector will not have a negative effect on the strength and nature of the existing strong developmental state. It is argued that the cautious and pragmatic approach adopted by the government, coupled with the fact that privatisation in Botswana is embraced voluntarily (that is not imposed on the country by either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition for financial assistance), hiving off parastatals to the private sector will not result in the weakening and ultimate demise of the state as it has happened in some countries within Sub Saharan Africa. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Criticism of multiparty democracy: Parallels between Wamba‐dia‐Wamba and Arendt

Abstract

The IMF, World Bank, and former colonial powers have put pressure on African countries to adopt multiparty democracy. Because of this pressure, many formerly one‐party states as well as some military dictatorships have embraced Western and Parliamentarian democratic forms. But does this mean that democracy has succeeded in Africa? Ernest Wamba‐dia‐Wamba of the University of Dar‐es‐Saalam and CODESRIA argues that embracing Western paradigms in an unthinking fashion will not bring real democracy, i.e. people's liberation. He advances criticisms of party politics and statism, and suggests that African palaver and people's movements are a surer site of political action. In his criticisms of representative government he parallels the thoughts and criticism of Hannah Arendt. Arendt advocated a council system that shares many of the attributes of African palaver communities. By consulting the criticisms of Arendt and Wamba‐dia‐Wamba, we can see that an easy optimism about the multiparty system is unfounded.     

The political economy of China and Japan's relationship with Africa: a comparative perspective

China and Japan's policies towards Africa in the 1990s have converged, ostensibly around enhanced economic interaction with the continent based on the premise of integrating the continent into the global economy. At the same time, both countries view Africa as a useful buttress to their respective political and diplomatic goals in the international system. Connected to this and in order to garner support for their agendas, both countries promote themselves as possessing specific pro-South identities. This identity is premised around the notions of ‘non-Westernness’ and, in the case of China, in resistance to the North's hegemony. Yet paradoxically, by pursuing their respective policies in Africa, both states act to further deepen the penetration of the West into Africa. The inherent contradictions in Chinese and Japanese policies towards Africa raises questions as to the long-term viability of the current agendas being pursued by the two countries in Africa.     

Nonformal Education, Political Participation, and Democracy: Findings from Senegal

The relationship between nonformal education (NFE) and democracy has not been subject to empirical examination. Given the prominence that NFE has gained in many countries, such as those in Africa, this inattention is unfortunate. Using data from a survey involving a probability sample of 1484 Senegalese citizens, this paper examines the effects of education, both formal and nonformal, on political participation among rural Senegalese. The results indicate that NFE and formal education tend to have similar effects on several political behaviors, but the effect of NFE generally appears to be stronger. NFE has a positive impact on political participation. NFE increases the likelihood that one will vote and contact officials regarding community and personal problems. In addition, NFE has a strong, positive impact on community participation.Michelle T. Kuenzi, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Pkwy, Box 455029, Las Vegas, NV 89154-5029, USA (michele.kuenzi@ccmail.nevada.edu)     

Public Sector Priority Setting Using Decision Support Tools

The public sector is in transition in many countries, including New Zealand, and many government departments have been restructured so as to increase transparency and accountability in their decision‐making by implementing fundamental changes to governance, accountability regimes and information systems. New frameworks are also needed for tasks such as priority setting, and this paper describes the framework developed to assist the then NZ Ministry of Agriculture (MAF) in setting priorities for the allocation of research funds. This comprised a participative process including a series of workshops using both GroupSystems software for electronic meeting support and Visual Interactive Sensitivity Analysis (VISA) software to facilitate a multi‐criteria decision analysis.     

Do the “Dragon’s Gifts” Improve China’s National Image? An Empirical Analysis of the Economic Relations and Public Perceptions of China in Africa

Using a multivariate framework and the most recently available data that include numerous African countries, this investigation has produced the first extensive statistical evaluation of China’s image in Africa based on China’s various economic relations with Africa, including aid, trade, FDI and contracts. We find that China’s economic development assistance, contracts, and to some degree, trade with African countries contribute to a positive image of China in Africa. In addition, we find that people in African countries of a smaller population, poorer livelihood, less open economy, and better governance tend to have positive views of China’s political and economic influence. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese economic activities in recipient countries have been increasing. The implications of this research shed light on how BRI may be received in the host countries and the likelihood of its success or failure.

     

Patrimonial economics and informal bureaucracies: Public administration and social reality in the least developed countries of the 1990s: A review article

Commentators in many poorer countries, examining the political realities of the Third World from within new and interesting micro-economic perspectives, have rediscovered the relevance of dysfunctions in government as pointers to the true nature of state relations and economic development. The result has been the appearance of a literature on two commonly observed phenomena in the least developed countries of Africa, South Asia and Latin America: the enhanced economic role of ‘second’ or ‘informal’ economies, and the declining relevance of formal state structures which results partly from economic incapacity. This paper surveys some of the more significant recent examples of this literary output and relates their findings to the problems of public administration in those countries which experience or are likely to experience these phenomena.     

‘Land grabbing’ or harnessing of development potential in agriculture? East Asia's land-based investments in Africa

Abstract

Large-scale foreign investment in Africa's abundant but largely underutilized arable land has been criticised by international NGOs and social movements as ‘land grabbing’, which limits access of smallholder farmers to land, deprives local people of their livelihoods and threatens local and national food security across the continent. By way of contrast, many host governments and some leading international development agencies regard land-based investments as beneficial for development in terms of providing the necessary capital and technological know-how for modernising the region's neglected agriculture including take-off in agribusiness and agro-industrialisation, which is vital to much needed economic diversification in many African countries. East Asia's participation in the global land rush on Africa is examined from the standpoint of these two different perspectives: while China's growing presence and involvement in trade and investment in mining, energy and infrastructure in Africa is well known, less recognised is its involvement and those of other East Asian countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam in agriculture through large-scale land acquisitions. The development consequences and policy implications of these foreign land-based investments are analysed from a political economy perspective, which identifies motives, interests and benefits of the different actors and addresses the question of governance in terms of transparency and appropriate institutional arrangements to safeguard land rights and food security. In the bigger picture, the paper argues that the negative consequences of land grab has to be seen alongside the benefits flowing to Africa from growing economic relations with China and other dynamic East Asian economies and learning from the development experiences of those countries. African countries however need to re-assess the current approach and relationship with foreign land-based investors and decide how best this trend can be used to forward their economic and social agendas.     

Bureaucratization and administrative development in Africa: A reading of Riggs' theory of prismatic society

Poor bureaucratization in prismatic (transitional) societies is attributed to malintegration of the ideal bureaucratic principles with subsisting traditional sociocultural features by Fred Riggs. Riggs has been severely criticized on many fronts, yet aspects of his theory remain relevant towards explaining persistent poor administrative behaviour in most African countries. This article applies Riggs' notion of poly‐communalism and poly‐normativism to explain the contribution of low state identity to persistent poor administrative behaviour in Africa. Historical institutionalism theory is also used to attempt at resolving the challenge of equilibrium for which Riggs' theory is commonly criticized. The author avers that communalism, a value that supports group interest in a traditional society, subsists in most poly‐communal transitional African countries, leading to distortions in administrative behaviour. A good number of African countries were mobilized through colonialism but poorly assimilated, thus lacking strong common state identity, which leads to ineffective public administration. The article suggests that resolving the trapping of the administrative system in Africa requires resolving the challenge of poly‐communalism and lack of common identity among a state population.     

EU Counterterrorism and the Southern Mediterranean Countries after the Arab Spring: New Potential for Cooperation?

The European Union's (EU) relationship with North African countries has long been the subject of intense academic enquiry. For many years, the EU has performed a difficult balancing act between managing the security concerns of its member states, dealing with authoritarian regimes that have questionable human rights records, creating and maintaining good economic relations, and pursuing more normative objectives. Have security objectives overridden other concerns? While the EU has cooperated with regimes with questionable human rights records, counterterrorism cooperation between the EU and North African countries has not developed as much as previous academic studies believe. However, what are the prospects of this changing with more recent developments after the Arab Spring? This article examines in detail the reasons why the EU does not currently conduct significant counterterrorism cooperation with North African countries and discusses whether this situation is likely to change as a result of the events of the Arab Spring, which has swept through North Africa and the Middle East since 2010.     

How multinational civil society organisations and non‐governmental organisations lobby policy for human rights in Africa

In recent years, the number of international non‐governmental organisations (INGOs) and international civil society organisations (ICSOs) trying to influence policy processes in Africa has increased considerably. These players increasingly play an important role in socio‐political and life of many African countries. To achieve certain political results, INGOs and ICSOs often lobby governments, using a variety of techniques. Though lobbying as a public relations (PR) technique is widely discussed in academic spheres, the debate on the relationship between transnational advocacy and lobbying as a PR practice is still marginal. This paper explores how INGOs and ICSOs lobby governments in Africa and examines via a case the effectiveness of activist lobbying in the continent.     

An evaluation of the application of the new public management principles in the South African municipalities

New public management (NPM) was introduced in the western world with a sole purpose of reforming the public sector and its approaches in managing affairs of the state. These reforms were later adopted in some parts of the African continent including in the sub‐Saharan Africa trying to emulate the successes of the developed economies of the world. South Africa as one of the countries in Africa also sought to shift from its apartheid bureaucratic, inefficient and rule driven management of public affairs. To this end, the democratic South Africa aligned its constitutional provisions with the principles of NPM which include but are not limited to participatory planning, decentralisation, performance management, effectiveness and efficiency. These principles were introduced precisely to better manage the state and its resources including at the local sphere of government. Local government in South Africa is underpinned by its own sets of policy frameworks. This conceptual paper seeks to evaluate the application of NPM principles in the South African municipalities. The said evaluation was undertaken through a review of existing literature. The paper concludes that the application of the said principles in the South African municipalities is confronted by some challenges including lack of political will, corruption as well as lack of skills and capacities. Necessary recommendations have been developed to enhance the performance of municipalities so as to achieve the otherwise good intended provisions of the NPM.     

China’s Political Stability: Global Comparisons

Throughout most of the 20th Century, China had suffered tremendous economic and human losses due to political instability. It is in the most recent decades that the Chinese people have managed to live with political stability. The economic benefits of political stability can hardly be overstated. Yet, China’s political stability is by no means assured. Is China stable or unstable? Is the Chinese regime strong or fragile? To answer these questions, this study has selected a total of 12 sets of publically available indices to measure political instability and placed China on a global scale of comparisons with all the others, both advanced and developing, in the world. It also makes specific comparisons between China and the other four countries of the so-called BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). The findings of our global comparisons give China no reasons for celebration. However, China has no reasons for paranoia either. China has indeed faced many threats or challenges to political stability, but, as our study demonstrates, China is no more politically unstable or fragile than many others. Ignoring or underestimating the ripple effect of any destabilizing world event will do China no good, but overreactions also serve China’s interests poorly as fear or paranoia can be highly contagious.     

Referendums in the Third World

Since the early 1960s many Third World countries have been attracted to referendums, with the earliest being held in Uruguay in 1917, Iraq in 1921 and Chile in 1925. Butler and Ranney(1978) identified referendums in Third World nations up to 1978, yet analysis of the political process and patterns of these referendums is lacking in the political science literature. It is the purpose of this paper to identify some of the patterns and processes common to African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern referendums. The paper will examine briefly the Western democratic referendums, excluding the experience of Switzerland and Australia where referendums are an integral part of the constitutional and political process. Secondly, the general and regional Third World patterns will be examined. Thirdly, referendums in nine countries will be described; lastly, the paper will conclude with the identification of the common patterns and processes of Third World referendums. In this paper we are concerned with post- independence national level referendums; although, many referendums have been conducted on a subnational level and prior to independence.     

A Critical Survey of Subnational Autonomy in African States

This article examines the quiet yet pervasive transfer of powerfrom central governments to subnational units in Africa sincethe early 1990s. Central governments have justified this trendby arguing it promotes one or more of three goods: democracy,development, and accommodating diversity. The authors surveysix selected countries representing federal-unitary and regionaldifferences to evaluate their degree of formal and substantivepolitical, administrative, and financial autonomy. Transferof powers to subnational units, the authors conclude, is a realand nearly universal trend. However, many central governmentshave clawed back this grant of power in numerous ways, whichled to an informal recentralization of power. Moreover, centralgovernments of federations have deliberately strengthened localgovernment at the expense of regional autonomy.     

Brain drain and South Africa's socioeconomic development: The waves and its effects

Many African countries are bedeviled with huge losses of human skills, and this, in turn, has affected thier development. From health professionals to teachers, academics and engineers, the continent has lost numerous skilled personnel who ought to be contributing extensively to its socio‐economic development. The socio‐economic development of a country hinges on the availability of skilled human resources to drive its growth. Brain drain has long being a challenge for South Africa as the country continues to lose skilled professionals to other countries, hence, the unsteady growth of its economy. Using a strict textual analysis of the relevant literature relating to brain drain in South Africa, the study found that the South African government lacks a clear cut policy on how to reduce brain drain, and this will impact the country's socioeconomic development in the long term. Using the theoretical framework of Lee's push and pull theory, the study argues that brain drain in South Africa is reinforced by certain socio‐economic factors. The paper concludes that South Africa's vision of becoming Africa's industrial hub may remain a dream if the country fails to put losing its skilled professionals under control.