thirdworldcitizen: Understanding post election violence in new democr...

Understanding post election violence in new democr...: Although post election violence has been a common occurrence in most African states, the new wave of PEV especially in Guinea and Nige...

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Understanding post election violence in new democracies; governance, ethnic diversity and patronage politics

Although post election violence has been a common occurrence in most African states, the new wave of PEV especially in Guinea and Nigeria shows change in pattern. These states are the so called new democracies in Africa, states that recently underwent democratic transition (S, Omotola 2010). This wave of violence has threatened stability of these states as people took to the streets to redress the disputed elections through violence. And unfortunately in some instances it took ethnic dimensions when a specific group of people were targeted in the process not only complicating the situation but also raising concerns over ethnic violence. Post election violence in these states is linked to patrimonial nature of most African states, weak institutions and exploitation of ethnicity to invoke political support which has undermined stability and security.   Additionally, different parties and leaders in these states have employed different tactics of election malpractices that invol...
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Perspectives: Why has Africa grown slowly?

Paul Collier (1999) clearly stated his arguments and explanations why Continental Africa is lagging behind in terms of development and growth unlike other regions of the world. Africa’s slow growth was explained by grouping the perceived causes into two-by-two matrix separating on one hand policy and “destiny” factors and on the other external and domestic. Furthermore, he comes to his conclusion by saying that reforms, especially in areas of domestic policy dealing with service delivery needs to be intensified while finally stating that freedom will be helpful in strengthening democracy which will likely support economic reform.   Although extensive and valid explanations were given by the author, it is quite hard not to separate the author from the institution he is working for when he published the article. He was working as a director of development research with the World Bank, thus making it hard for readers to rule out institutional bias since he barely made referenc...
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State ineffectiveness in DRC

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