Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: HeeMin Kim, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Political Science. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 22, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 151 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of democratisation in peace building and conflict resolution. The findings of the study have revealed that democratisation plays a pivotal role in conflict resolution and peace building. It provides legitimacy for governments and encourages people's participation in decision-making on issues that affect their lives; democratic processes contribute to the effectiveness of the state policies and developmental strategies. The study has also showed that democratic institutions and practices foster the governmental accountability and transparency necessary to deter national and transnational crime and corruption and encourage increased responsiveness to popular concerns. In development, they increase the likelihood that the state goals reflect broad societal concerns and that the government is sensitive to the societal environmental costs of its development policies. By involving people in decision-making, democracy ensures mutual respect and satisfaction between the state and its citizens, and this in turn promotes peace and stability in a country. / M.A. (Peace studies and International Studies) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

After the Cold war, most African countries have strived to be democratic States by accommodating the idea of liberal democracy. Although these countries adopt this kind of system of governance, most of them do not adhere to the tenets which this type of democracy ascribes. The political systems in most African countries are organised and based on what is referred to as politics of identity. This is where the set up of political institutions is based on interest groups with an ethnic, religious or any peculiar identity configuration. The practice of identity politics based on ethnic, religious or merely any identity, leads to exclusion of some segmental groups from the governance system in most African countries. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Most African states emerged from shadows and made a transition from mono-party, one-person and military rule towards political pluralism and multi-party democratic governance in 1990s. One of the key ingredients of this transformation is the holding of regular elections and electoral systems that undergird the electoral process itself. However still, most African states practice what is referred to as shallow democracy as opposed to deeper democracy that requires full participation of citizens and accountability. Shallow democracy is the democracy that has not made any positive impacts to the ordinary people despite the radical changes to the constitution and expansion of part activity. / Prepared under the supervision of Mr Paulo Comoane at the Faculty of Law, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Two recent developments dominate the political economy of Sub Saharan Africa -- the adoption of economic structural adjustment reforms and the emergence of pressures for the democratization of the political process. Economic reform measures have spawned civil society, made up of anti-authoritarian, anti-statist, non-governmental organizations, that demand political liberalization. This study is an attempt to analyze, theoretically and quantitatively, the unanticipated association between these developments. Democratic institutions inherited by Sub Saharan Africa at independence were subverted either through military coups or by the abuse and misuse of the institutions by an inordinately ambitious political elite. Thus, about a decade into independence more than three quarters of the sub continent virtually came under authoritarian rule. Contemporaneously there was a decline in the economies of these countries, forcing them to borrow from international financial institutions, in order to offset their balance of payment difficulties. By the mid-1980s most of Sub Saharan Africa had also instituted structural adjustment programs. Using a pooled cross-sectional time series model of analysis, data gathered from Sub Saharan African countries are analysed to test the explanatory power of the three extant contending theories of development: classical, dependency, and neoliberal. Then, most importantly, the analysis examines the relationship between structural adjustment, the development of civil society, and democratization. Overall, the results indicate that the institutional structures generated by, and the political millieu created by structural adjustment are conducive for the evolution of civil society and for its activities for democracy. This political opportunity, however, is also found to be dependent on the level of restructuring involved. The more the political system is restructured, the more the freedom of political participation by civil society, and the higher the level of democratization. The study found a very weak relationship between structural adjustment and economic growth, thereby calling into question many current economic policies. It further demonstrated that no one single theory had the advantages over others in explaining the dynamics of both political and economic development in Sub Saharan Africa and, by extension, in other developing countries.

The dominant construction of democracy on a global scale is in the liberal tradition. It is evident in the criteria which constitute democratic barometers in organisations like Freedom House, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. This study seeks to provide a third-order analysis of liberal democratic consolidation theory in order to highlight that its theoretical discourse and underlying structure is not necessarily compatible with the cultural values of the non-Western world using a critical discourse analysis. Democratic consolidation in the non-Western world may not necessarily mirror the theoretical model of liberal democratic consolidation. Given the hegemonic position of liberal democracy‘s criteria and its dominant discourse and role as a barometer of democracy, this study focuses on democratic consolidation in this tradition. It is primarily due to the perceived inability of non-Western states to consolidate their democracies in the liberal democratic tradition and by default, construct thriving liberal democracies. Present theories of liberal democratic consolidation theory deal with governmental, political organisational and societal aspects of liberal democracy. The level of change these theories propagate is all encompassing, and consequently one cannot merely study one aspect of liberal democratic consolidation theory, but needs to analyse the paradigm as a whole in order to explore its metatheoretical structure. It is in this light that the study conducts an appraisal of liberal democratic consolidation theory. The critique developed in this study is aimed at addressing a disparity that currently exists within contemporary consolidation of liberal democracy theory, namely a failure of producers of liberal democratic discourse to understand the philosophical and ideological undertone of liberal democratic consolidation‘s understructure. The study does not seek to conceptualise alternative criteria of democratic consolidation in the non-Western context, but focuses on liberal democratic consolidation theory, to demonstrate that its criteria is not necessarily an appropriate barometer to measure democracy in the non-Western world. / Political Sciences / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Politics)

The dominant construction of democracy on a global scale is in the liberal tradition. It is evident in the criteria which constitute democratic barometers in organisations like Freedom House, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. This study seeks to provide a third-order analysis of liberal democratic consolidation theory in order to highlight that its theoretical discourse and underlying structure is not necessarily compatible with the cultural values of the non-Western world using a critical discourse analysis. Democratic consolidation in the non-Western world may not necessarily mirror the theoretical model of liberal democratic consolidation. Given the hegemonic position of liberal democracy‘s criteria and its dominant discourse and role as a barometer of democracy, this study focuses on democratic consolidation in this tradition. It is primarily due to the perceived inability of non-Western states to consolidate their democracies in the liberal democratic tradition and by default, construct thriving liberal democracies. Present theories of liberal democratic consolidation theory deal with governmental, political organisational and societal aspects of liberal democracy. The level of change these theories propagate is all encompassing, and consequently one cannot merely study one aspect of liberal democratic consolidation theory, but needs to analyse the paradigm as a whole in order to explore its metatheoretical structure. It is in this light that the study conducts an appraisal of liberal democratic consolidation theory. The critique developed in this study is aimed at addressing a disparity that currently exists within contemporary consolidation of liberal democracy theory, namely a failure of producers of liberal democratic discourse to understand the philosophical and ideological undertone of liberal democratic consolidation‘s understructure. The study does not seek to conceptualise alternative criteria of democratic consolidation in the non-Western context, but focuses on liberal democratic consolidation theory, to demonstrate that its criteria is not necessarily an appropriate barometer to measure democracy in the non-Western world. / Political Sciences / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Politics)

The Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) acknowledged and recognised the centrality of good governance within the context of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an innovative mechanism acceded to by member states of the African Union (AU) as a self- monitoring mechanism for good governance. South Africa is one of the countries which acceded to the APRM in 2003. Accordingly, South Africa appointed a National Governing Council (NGC) under the chairpersonship of the Minister of Public Services and Administration as the focal point to develop a strategy to manage the national APRM process. The NGC was constituted of business, the disabled, civil society, churches, trade unions, government and women’s coalitions thus ensuring all relevant stakeholders are represented. As part of South Africa’s country assessment, questionnaires dealing with the four core thematic areas of the APRM were sent through to the public by community development workers. In addition, four technical assessment agencies were appointed to assist in conducting research on the four thematic areas. The primary objective of this study is to examine the theoretical approach to the study and the African Peer Review Mechanism’s contemporary relevance to South Africa, its intended beneficiaries and an assessment of South Africa for the period 2006. The study revealed that Proportional Representation (PR) and floor-crossing have an impact on the sustainability, relevance, long term development, vibrancy and profundity of constitutional democracy in the country. Clearly, since the dawn of the democratic dispensation in South Africa the electoral system introduced is such that it had to take into account the challenges the country faced during the apartheid system of governance. In this context, enough space for free political competition in the country was created. On the basis of the findings of the study, it is patently clear that the time allocated for the CSAR was minimal and the country should have been given at least two years so that the self assessment could have been extensively done. On the issue of HIV and AIDS and its relationship to socio-economic conditions, it was revealed that the country has a lot to do in this regard. The debilitating effect that HIV and AIDS has on the lives of the citizens requires clarity of policy and strategy, consistency in public communication and the need for sustained partnerships amongst all relevant stakeholders. At another level, there was a call for a basic income grant although government does not necessarily support it. Based on the research findings above, a new research area outlined under recommendations can be conceptualized for further research and it requires some attention.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / While the Arab spring succeeded in ousting the long-term dictator led governments from power in many Arab countries, leading the way to a new democratic process to develop in the Arab world, it did not end the old suspicions between Arab Muslims and the West. This research investigates the beginning of the relations between the Arab Muslims and the West as they have developed over time, and then focuses its analysis on perceptions from both sides beginning with 9/11 through the events known as the Arab spring. The framework for analysis is a communication perspective, as embodied in the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). According to CMM, communication can be understood as forms of interactions that both constitute and frame reality. The study posits the analysis that the current Arab Muslim-West divide, is often a conversation that is consistent with what CMM labels as the ethnocentric pattern. This analysis will suggest a new pathway, one that follows the CMM cosmopolitan form, as a more fruitful pattern for the future of Arab Muslim-West relations. This research emphasizes the factors fueling this ethnocentric pattern, in addition to ways of bringing the Islamic world and the West to understand each other with a more cosmopolitan approach, which, among other things, accepts mutual differences while fostering agreements. To reach this core, the study will apply a direct communicative engagement between the Islamic world and the West to foster trusted relations, between the two.