African Politics : A Very Short Introduction

Author: Taylor, Ian (Professor in International Relations and African Political Economy at the University of St Andrews)

Africa

Published on 27 September 2018 by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in the United Kingdom as part of 'the Very Short Introductions' series.

Paperback / softback | 176 pages, 10 black and white images
172 x 116 x 9 | 146g

Africa is a continent of 54 countries and over a billion people. However, despite the rich diversity of the African experience, it is striking that continuations and themes seem to be reflected across the continent, particularly south of the Sahara. Questions of underdevelopment, outside exploitation, and misrule are characteristic of many - if not most-states in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this Very Short Introduction Ian Taylor explores how politics is practiced on the African continent, considering the nature of the state in Sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. Exploring the historical and contemporary factors which account for Africa's underdevelopment, he also analyses why some African countries suffer from high levels of political violence while others are spared. Unveilling the ways in which African state and society actually function beyond the formal institutional façade, Taylor discusses how external factors - both inherited and contemporary - act upon the continent.

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