African Politics at American Colleges and Universities: Topics, Approaches and Readings

Extract

In 1987 we surveyed a number of teachers of African politics in order to examine the topics, theoretical frameworks and textbooks/readings treated in those courses. The information presented below was derived from responses to 42 questionnaires and from analysis of 35 syllabi. Reference is also made to a similar 1978 study.

About three-fourths of the courses reported were defined as “comparative politics” with international relations treated secondarily; the remaining courses combined comparative and international politics. Sixty-five percent of the courses were offered exclusively to undergraduates. Sixty-seven percent concentrated on sub-Saharan Africa, 14% the entire continent, and 19% southern Africa.

Instructors vary widely in their course introduction. The most popular method is historical, but nine spend one to two weeks “setting the scene” of contemporary Africa before the historical overview. Twenty-two percent explicitly address approaches to the study of African politics. Some treat competing approaches to “development” or approaches to the causes and cures of poverty in Africa. This roughly compares to the percent of respondents who indicated a desire to expose students to competing paradigms. Although the low percentage of direct treatment of competing approaches is surprising, the syllabi indicate that many teachers integrate the issue throughout the course.