Course Description

We will investigate (1) what is distinct about African political systems, (2) what Sub-Saharan Africa’s principal governance challenges are, (3) what the main explanations are for these challenges, (4) how these governance challenges are reflected in Africans’ day-to-day lives; finally, (5) how Africans are turning challenges into opportunities for positive change? Questions we will explore include: (a) What types of public goods or public “bads” have African governments produced? (b) What is being done about the public “bads?” (c) Which African governments are performing well, and which ones are not? Finally, (d) Under what conditions are Africans likely to overcome Africa’s governance challenges?