A Philosophical Reflection on Sustainable Politics in Africa: Constraints and Possibilities
Year: 2014
Type: preprint
Abstract: There are so many reasons for politics to deserve priority attention in the affairs of any nation. As the science of government, politics defines the rate and pace of development of any nation. For this reason, state managers should be able to translate political power into service-oriented enterprise. This will require providing disciplined leadership, encouraging the emergence of informed and active civil society, keeping corruption in firm check and guaranteeing freedom and rights of citizens to pursue their legitimate activities.Investigations, however, reveal that the modern African government is seriously faced with the problem of corruption and leadership crisis. To say this is to underscore the questions of preparations for political office, perception, social grounding, political priorities, expectations and strategies expected of African leaders. The need to evaluate the place of the individual in governance is critical when one reflects on the role an individual can play in the (mis)creation of ideology and nation building. Mandela’s integrated approach and Robert Mugabe’s zero sum politics are good instances of far-reaching effect of how an individual’s value and behavior can shape national and international politics.Yet, it is imperative that for politics to succeed and endure, political concerns should be placed on a structural frame outside the reach of power holders. If this is the case, why are African states still struggling with leadership crisis when these states have constitution clearly spelling out the dos and don’ts of office holders? While this question springs from politics, its resolution lies outside of it. It requires sustained reflection to grapple with the nuances posed by constraints in achieving this goal and the possibilities of its realization. A philosophical reflection, then, provides the platform to adequately interrogate the problems preventing the emergence of clean politics in Africa as well as point up road map for its actualization and sustenance.The paper will tease out obstacles that obstruct the emergence of clean politics that existing views failed to mention. Also the paper will cut through layers of accepted understanding of the character of African politics and provide new and challenging insights into the power game in African politics. In addition, the paper will further a better understanding of the categories of social order in the makeup of African politics and provoke interest in the activities of leaders and followers. In a globally interconnected world an adequate understanding of the political affairs of Africa has great impact in strengthening or weakening mutual relationship with other nations.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Author: M. S. C. Okolo
Institution: Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2336447139