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Political transition

Tanzania in transition : From Nyerere to Mkapa

Medarbetare: Havnevik, Kjell | Isinika, Aida C.
Utgivare: Dar es Salaam ; Uppsala : Mkuki na Nyota Publishers ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Tanzania, Heads of state, Benjamin W. Mkapa, Julius Nyerere, Political leadership, Governance, Political ideologies, Development models, Development strategy, Political transition, Economic conditions, Social change., Political science, Statsvetenskap
This book is the first comprehensive contribution to understanding the character of important societal transitions in Tanzania during Benjamin Mkapa's presidency (1995 - 2005). The analyses of the trajectory of these transitions are conducted against the background of the development model of Tanzanian's first president, Julius Nyerere (1961 - 1985), a model with lasting influence on the country. This approach enables an understanding of continuities and discontinuities in Tanzania over time in areas such as development strategy an ideology, agrarian-land, gender and forestry issues, economic liberalization, development assistance, corruption and political change. The period of Mkapa's presidency is particularly important because it represents the first phase of Tanzania's multi-party political system. Mkapa's government initially faced a gloomy economic situation. Although Mkapa's crusade against corruption lost direction, his presidency was characterised by relatively high growth rates and a stable macro-economy. Rural and agrarian transitions were dominated by diversification rather than productivity growth and transformation. Rural attitudes in favour of land markets emerged only slowly but formal land disputes showed more respect for women's rights. Some space emerged for widening local participation in forest management, but rural dynamics was mainly found in trading settlements feeding on economic liberalization and artisanal mining. The transitions documented and analysed of Mkapa's presidency, however, indicate only limited transformational change. Rural poverty is therefore likely to remain deep and the sustainability of economic development to be at risk in the future. Mkapa was, however, able to protect the legacy of peace and political stability of Nyerere, but there were nevertheless important challenges to the first multiparty elections and governance, and particularly in Zanzibar. The post- script (covering 2005 2010), indicates that the incumbent president, Jakaya Kikwete, has yet to prove that he can change this legacy of Mkapa. The contributions to the eleven chapters of this book are evenly shared between Tanzanian, Nordic and other European researchers with a long-term commitment to Tanzanian development research. The book is dedicated to the youth of Tanzania. 

Fault-lines in South African democracy : continuing crises of inequality and injustice

Upphovsperson: Hendricks, Fred T.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: Post-apartheid, Political transition, political development, Democratization, South Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa has raised questions, on the one hand, about the tension between the imperatives of justice and equality and, on the other, reconciliation. Transforming the decades' old apartheid system under conditions of a political compromise has turned out to be a formidable challenge. This paper is about the complexity of the transformation processgoing on in South Africa. Although too early for a real assessmentof the experiment, the tensions, dilemmas, contradictions, paradoxes and some of the changes have already begun to manifest themselves. In this Discussion Paper, the author gives the full measure of the tensions, dilemmas, and paradoxes involved in the transformation of South Africa. Apartheid was more than formal discrimination along racial lines: it was a system of exploitation and oppression in which race, class, gender and other markers of social identity all overlapped. The paper shows how political deals affect the administration of justice, and how they impinge upon the nature of democracy, often by frustrating efforts to realise social goals in the post-authoritarian phase. It also raises the fundamental question of the broader necessities for the long-term survival of democracy in South Africa, which, the paper argues, must include: - addressing the enormous disparities between wealth and poverty and black and white left in the wake of apartheid and - creating a legitimate polity that respects the rule of law.