Developmental Issues in Africa: Africa’s Political Systems in Light of the Threats to Africa’s Democratic Growth
Lecturer: Magutt, J.
Class: POL2201- Introduction to Political S Science
Student Name: Israa Mohamed Yousif
Student ID: 632376
Term Paper: Developmental issues in Africa: Africa’s Political Systems in light of the Threats to Africa’s Democratic Growth.
Introduction
It reflects the political aura of our present day that democracy is used to symbolize the desired state of social, political and economic pursuits ergo, I suppose legitimises many existing republics. There are several definitions, models and concepts as to what exactly democracy is, most of which contradict each other. Reflecting on what the later think of democracy I referred to the Oxfords American dictionary which gives democracy’s definition to be: a system of government by which the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives, control an organization or group by the majority of its members and to practice social equality. If we were to look at the origin of the word (the etymological meaning) the word democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia which is made of two root words: demos “the people” and kratos “rule, power or strength”, which when put together democracy literally means “rule by the people”. The genesis of democracy roots back to an ancient Greek state known as Athens, which is the most eminent example of a democratic state. Athens has long been a symbol of comparison for modern democratic nations and has frequently influenced modern day politics like in the case of the “Gettysburg Address” of Abraham Lincoln (USA president)(November 19, 1863) who coined democracy to being a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The boundary between democratic and undemocratic is coloured with shades of grey, which creates a broader range of umpteen variations of political systems ranging from single- or no-party systems to dictatorial, authoritarian and military regimes which are unique and correlates
Class: POL2201- Introduction to Political S Science
Student Name: Israa Mohamed Yousif
Student ID: 632376
Term Paper: Developmental issues in Africa: Africa’s Political Systems in light of the Threats to Africa’s Democratic Growth.
Introduction
It reflects the political aura of our present day that democracy is used to symbolize the desired state of social, political and economic pursuits ergo, I suppose legitimises many existing republics. There are several definitions, models and concepts as to what exactly democracy is, most of which contradict each other. Reflecting on what the later think of democracy I referred to the Oxfords American dictionary which gives democracy’s definition to be: a system of government by which the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives, control an organization or group by the majority of its members and to practice social equality. If we were to look at the origin of the word (the etymological meaning) the word democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia which is made of two root words: demos “the people” and kratos “rule, power or strength”, which when put together democracy literally means “rule by the people”. The genesis of democracy roots back to an ancient Greek state known as Athens, which is the most eminent example of a democratic state. Athens has long been a symbol of comparison for modern democratic nations and has frequently influenced modern day politics like in the case of the “Gettysburg Address” of Abraham Lincoln (USA president)(November 19, 1863) who coined democracy to being a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
The boundary between democratic and undemocratic is coloured with shades of grey, which creates a broader range of umpteen variations of political systems ranging from single- or no-party systems to dictatorial, authoritarian and military regimes which are unique and correlates
References: Ottawa, M. (Eds.). (1997). Democracy in Africa: The Hard Road Ahead. Colorado: Rienner. Wiseman A.J. (Eds.). (1995). Democracy and Political Change in Sub-Saharan Africa. London: Routledge. Electronic Resources: Campbell, D.F. (n.d.). The Basic concept for the Democracy Ranking of the Quality of Democracy. Retrieved October 11, 2011 from http://www.democracyranking.org/downloads/basic_concept_democracy_rank ing_2008_A4.pdf. Doyle, M Treder, M. (2009). The Meaning of Freedom. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/3411 Wikipedia. (2011, January 14). Human Rights in Zimbabwe. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Zimbabwe Wikipedia. (2011, September 18). Social equity. Retrieved October 11, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_equality