African Politics

Front 1

During lecture, we talked about several sources of ethnic conflict. Some of these sources involved ethnicity as a root cause, while others did not. In an essay, discuss the following:

a)A. Many times, what appears to be an ethnic conflict in Africa has another root cause. Discuss two of these other root causes in some detail.

Back 1

Resources are not distributed evenly within states. Neither are members of different ethnic groups. Some examples are Oil in Nigeria and Diamonds in Angola. Another conflict is political power. Colonial powers often played different groups against each other. This is evident during election time because ethnicity is more salient. More diversity equals less ethnic salience
And this Suggests large rival groups equal more conflict. In addition, More economic competition equals more salience

Front 2

b)B. Irredentism, by contrast, is based primarily on ethnicity. When is irredentist conflict most likely? [part1]

Back 2

The conflict is most likely when a movement by members of an ethnic group in one state to retrieve culturally like people and their territory across borders.

Front 3

b)[part 2] Provide one example of an irredentist conflict and provide some detail as to the source of the conflict

Back 3

An example would be Somalia. Somalia was divided into five separate states: French Somaliland, brititsh Somaliland, Italian Somaliland, ethiopia, and Kenya. In 1960 only British and Italian Somaliland was reunited, which left the Somalis living across international boundaries. After Somalia refused to agree to the OAU principle of inviolable boundaries, they served noticed that they wished to provide a nation state for all Somali people. However til this day Somalia doesn’t have central authority and the state has collapsed

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D. Of the five ways we discussed, what do you believe is the best way to prevent ethnic conflict? Provide a brief explanation of your response

Back 4

Development is the best way to prevent ethnic conflict. You would Make the pie bigger so it is easier to split . Also you can Look for the root of the cause of conflict

Front 5

2. Africa’s colonial inheritance was both positive and negative. In an essay, address the following points:

A.Name two of the positive colonial inheritances discussed in lecture. Tell me why the answers you chose were positive in many African states.

Back 5

One of the positive colonial inheritances is civil society. This provides the “roots” of a political system. In addition its essential that civil society is present because this helps to ensure the public interest is always paramount. Another example would be infrastructure because this is the structure of an organization and its modern in many ways. These are positive because this will help benefit the country.

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part b) Name two of the negative colonial inheritances discussed in lecture. Tell me why the answers you chose were positive in many African states

Back 6

– B)One of the negative colonial inheritances is boarders. The states are encased and closed off from other states. This could mean that states wont be able to trade with each other. Another example would be Weak states. There Susceptible to influence from the colonial power and Capacity weakens over small distances. These are negative because this will hurt the country

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part c) As a whole, do you believe the colonial experience was more positive or negative for Africa? Justify your answer and don’t tell me what you think I want to hear.

Back 7

– C)It’s negative because their boarders were closed off from other countries and didn’t have the luxury to trade so they could start making a profit.

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3. The author of our texts argues that social class has a significant impact on African politics. In an essay, address the following points raised in lecture.

A. We discussed several reasons why class analysis in Africa is often difficult. Name and describe in some detail two of these reasons. Provide examples where appropriate

Back 8

?One example would be Proletariat. It’s Small size, but concentrated. The big issue is money. Many states/people want to be like China and Have more access to health care.Another example is The Rentier Class. Many African states rich in resources and provides one of the stronger bases for class conflict in Africa .

Front 9

B. Who are the bureaucratic bourgeoisie? Why is this class so important in African politics?

Back 9

It became apart of the Rentier class. They Control allocation of resources and Get rich off of rents . It’s important bc it Provides on of the stronger bases for class conflict in Africa.

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C. Some African political leaders have argued African contains many classless societies. What is the basis of this claim? In your judgment, is the claim correct? Why?

Back 10

The basis of this claim would be the idea of capitalist. Marx believe that capitalism would lead to revolt due to some contradictions it had

Front 11

D. If asked to name the primary basis of political conflict (all types of conflict, not just war) in Africa, which of the factors discussed this far in the semester would you choose? Defend your answer using evidence and examples.

Back 11

Resource distribution is one of the basis of political conflict. Resources are not distributed evenly amonst the states, for example oil in negeria.