Reconstituting the State in Africa [Paperback]

Contributors to this volume highlight the failure and socio-economic and political problems of post-colonial African state and make constructive and convincing suggestions of how the problems can be addressed. They do not argue for the scrapping of the state but its reconstitution in ways that will enable it to be people's-oriented.PART I: BACKGROUND Introduction: Democratizing States and Sate Reconstitution in Africa; P.O.Agbese & G. Klay Kieh, Jr. PART II: CASE STUDIES Statecraft in Botswana: Renegotiating Development, Legitimacy, and Authority; O.Selolwane The State in Cote d'Ivoire: Evolution and Constraints; B.N'Diaye Re-Inventing and Rebuilding the Ghanaian State: Towards a New Triumphalism?; E.Kwesi-Aning Reflections on The State In Kenya; A.Naguku-Ayuk Reconfiguring and Re-inventing State-Society Relations in Mauritius; S.Bunwaree The Imperatives of Reconstructing the State in Nigeria: The Politics of Power, Welfare, and Imperialism in the New Millennium; S.Alubo The Post-Apartheid State in South; V.Maloka Part III: PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE State Renewal in Africa: The Lessons; P.O.Agbese & George Klay Kieh, Jr.

The theme and arguments make enormous contribution to the literature.

- Chris W. Ogbondah, Professor of Communication Studies, University of Northern Iowa

Nine African scholars have been brought together by Agbese and Kieh to explore the most important issue in contemporary Africa: how can the state be reconstituted so that it serves the people of the continent rather than systematically deepens their distress? In the search for answers, the authors report on the experiences ofseven pivotal countries. Few will question their depiction of the repressive, corrupt, and inefficient nature ofthe postcolonial African state. Some aspects of their reconstitution project will be challenged. All readers will benefit, however, from the frank exploration of the gains, setbacks and dilemmas of state reconstrl'