Politics and Government in Post-Colonial Africa

1. Politics and Government in Post-Colonial Africa

2. Political Issues in Post-Colonial Africa Colonial states were weak and lacked capacity. Colonial states were not democratic and had little respect for human rights. Ethnic conflict is a major political problem in many African countries.

3. Post-colonial politics,1960 -1990 Sovereignty and security National Unity Basic human services

4. Types of African governments,1960 - 1990 • presidential system (France) • parliamentary system (Britain)

5. Collapse of British and French models • The government structures inherited by independent governments were weak and lacked capacity. • The constitutions that were developed for the newly independent countries were different from the political systems developed by the colonial state. • Economic difficulties faced newly independent African nation-states. • One of the most difficult political problems newly independent governments faced was that of developing national unity among people who were divided along ethnic, language and religious lines.

6. Military Governments military leaders decided that they could do a better job of governing unable to meet the social and economic needs of their countries led to a crisis of legitimacy ethnic tensions threaten the political system strains on the political system provided an environment in which corruption became widely practiced

7. One-Party States Tradition Direct democracy National Unity Development orientation