Democratic renewal in Africa : trends and discourses / edited by Said Adejumobi.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-233) and index.

Democratic renewal in Africa: trends and lessons learned / Said Adejumobi -- Assessing trends in African democratization: methods and challenges / Abdul Raufu Mustapha -- Beyond authoritarianism: elections and the changing dynamics of state-society relations in Africa / Said Adejumobi -- The origin of African constitutions, elusive constitutionalism, and the crisis of liberal democracy / Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo -- Africa's long and hard road to constitutionalism and democracy: two decades on / Andre ́Mbata B. Mangu -- Toward a people-driven constitution: opportunities, constraints, and challenges of the Kenyan example / Kibet A. Ngetich -- The political economy of corruption in Africa: a theoretical discourse / Said Adejumobi -- Regional organizations and democratization in Africa: the ECOWAS experience / Kehinde A. Bolaji.

From the late 1980s to the early years of the twenty-first century, African politics were defined by a concerted struggle for democratization and the clamor for good governance. Motivated and legitimized by the bitter experiences of structural adjustment programs and entrenched, repressive regimes, these democratic struggles triggered constitutional reforms, elections, new civil freedoms, and a variety of other forms of political progress. Yet the scope and success of these reforms have varied widely among different nations, and some scholars have even argued that responsible governance and democratic progress have even contracted in the intervening two decades. This comprehensive volume provides both retrospective and forward-looking perspectives on the current state of democracy and governance across the African continent. Synthesizing the latest research the various nation-level democratization initiatives, it offers an invaluable survey of this latest chapter in Africa's postcolonial history. -- Amazon.