RECONSTRUCTING CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS AND THE COLLAPSE OF DEMOCRACY IN GHANA, 1979-81

This article attempts to contribute to an understanding of thechallenges involved in trying to bring military and securityagencies under constitutional rule in new democracies by analysingthe case of the Limann regime and the failed democratic transitionin Ghana in 1979–81. In the aftermath of democratizationin 1979 the civilian government made aggressive (and not alwaysdiplomatic) efforts to bring the armed forces under its control.In this instance both the civil government and the militarycommand were threatened by the possibility of a coup from belowand were anxious to prevent it. The analysis tries to answerthe question of why the government and the military commandfailed to make common cause, examining first the conflict betweencivilian officials and the military high command over jurisdictionaland other issues, and then between the security agencies themselvesthat provided the opening for the overthrow once again of democracy.The coup itself was the result of the double crisis of civiland military authority. The institutional arrangements throughwhich civil command has been exercised are examined; it is arguedthat civil control of the military in independent Ghana hashistorically been a myth, and that the existence of a civilianregime does not necessarily suggest civil control of the military.     

MAINTAINING A UNITARY STATE: COUNTER-TERRORISM,SEPARATISM, AND EXTREMISM IN XINJIANG AND CHINA

This essay reviews the history of Uighur related terrorism in Xinjiang as well as elsewhere in China and discusses the political motivations and effectiveness of the Chinese government in suppressing terrorism. The essay assesses both the motivations of the Uighurs engaged in terrorism, as well as the motivations for counter terrorist by the Chinese authorities. A key objective of the essay is to determine what are the political and other reasons that drive the Chinese government’s counter terrorism strategy and tactics and whether these have been effective or counter-productive. The essay assesses the counter terrorism strategy of the Chinese government in Xinjiang Province and across China, the political motivations for the strategy, the impact and success or otherwise. The essay discusses if the government is combatting terrorism, or separatism, or extremism, the confusion of these terms, and whether this has had any impact on the effectiveness of counter terrorism.     

Between Two Fires: Mayangna Indians in Post‐Revolutionary Nicaragua, 1979–1990

The predominant Mayangna narrative of the Nicaraguan Civil War holds that the Miskitu tricked them into joining the conflict. However, I argue here that the Mayangna leadership and the Sandinista government were also responsible, as Sandinista denial of the importance of ethnic difference in Nicaragua allowed Miskitu nationalists, using the language of religion, to co‐opt Mayangna leaders, while subsequent Sandinista violence turned Mayangna civilians against the revolution. Accusations of trickery stem from later Mayangna disillusion with the war and from problems with the autonomous political system set up in its wake, which encourages the Mayangna to underplay the role of their own leaders and the Sandinista government in embroiling them in the conflict. This one‐sided narrative, however, increasingly defines Mayangna interpretations of their very identity as a people.     

Participatory Democracy and New Left Student Movements: The University of Sydney, 1973–1979

Participatory democracy was one of the core tenets of the New Left student movements that emerged in Australia in the 1960s. However, scant attention has been given to the idea within the literature on the New Left. This article examines an experiment in participatory democracy that took place in the Department of Philosophy at Sydney University in the 1970s. Following a series of strikes, the Philosophy department was split in two, with one half, the Department of General Philosophy, operating under a democratic constitution for six years from 1973 to 1979. This case study reveals a great deal about the intellectual history of the student New Left and the centrality of participatory democracy within it.