Governance as conflict management : politics and violence in West Africa

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Title:

Author:

Zartman, I. William.

ISBN:

9780815797067

9780815797050

Publication Information:

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, c1997.

Physical Description:

xii, 292 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Contents:

1. Introduction / I. William Zartman -- 2. Governance as Conflict Management in West Africa / I. William Zartman. The Nationalist Movement and the Suppression of Conflict. Independence and the Social Contract. The Military and the Repression of Conflict. Ethnoregional and Socioeconomic Demand Groups. The Rise of Procedural Demands. The Future of Substantive Demands -- 3. Political Polarization over Governance in Cote d'Ivoire / Tessy D. Bakary. Social Ranking and Ethnic Classification: Culture and Social Legitimacy. The Plantation: Economics and Social Legitimacy. From Conflict to Consensus: 1945-65. From Consensus to Conflict: 1965-90. Succession as a Political Opportunity Structure -- 4. Ghana: Conflict Reoriented / A. Adu Boahen. THe Nkrumah Regime. The National Liberation Council Regime, 1966-69. The Busia Regime, 1969-72. The Era of the Men on Horseback, 1972-79. The Limann Regime, 1979-81. Rawlings and His PNDC Regime, since 1981.

The Return to Democracy and Political Pluralism, 1988 and after. The Nature of Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Ghana -- 5. Nigeria: Conflict Unresolved / Alex Gboyega. Roots of Conflict in Colonial Rule. Political Conflict in the First Republic. Management by Violence and the Military Regime. Conflicts under the Second Republic. Conflict Management under the Military after 1984 -- 6. Conclusion: Management of Conflict in West Africa / Donald Rothchild. The Tenuous Balance between Group Demands and State Responses. The Structuring of Cooperation. Implications for Conflict Management.

Subject Term:

Conflict management -- Africa, West.

Legitimacy of governments -- Africa, West.

Political stability -- Africa, West.

Geographic Term:

Africa, West -- Politics and government -- 1960-

Added Author:

Zartman, I. William.

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Summary

Africa is known as a continent of conflict. Entire regions have been caught up in violent conflicts that have sometimes resulted in state collapse. Yet during its nearly four decades of independence, West Africa has known comparatively little violent conflict and has had diverse experiences in managing the conflicts of demand-bearing groups.

As this book demonstrates, governance is conflict management. Governments are needed to handle the conflicting demands posed by groups in society and to reduce the conflicts that arise among the groups themselves. Unmanaged, these conflicts can escalate into violence; but managed, they give governments choice and direction, as well as energies to carry out essential programs.

The authors examine the efforts of Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria to manage their conflicts and evaluate the prospects of the three nations for effective regimes for managing conflicts in the future. By suggesting explanations for their past successes and failures, this study of West Africa contributes to an understanding of governance and conflict management. The lessons are far-reaching and applicable well beyond the African continent.

In addition to the editor, the contributors are Tessy D. Bakary, Laval University, Quebec; A. Adu Boahen, University of Ghana at Legon; Alex Gboyega, University of Ibadan, Nigeria; and Donald Rothchild, professor of political science at the University of California, Davis.