The Paradigm of African Political Backwardness
This rapid overview of contemporary thought on democracy is necessary, even if its complexity is somewhat daunting. First, it helps one understand why Africanist political scientists are guilty of the crime of which economists are generally accused as soon as two of them get together, they disagree about everything down to the most elementary conceptual tools. Second, it enables one to pinpoint the technical origin of errors in analysis and judgment that political science experts have made with...
Theoretical and Conceptual Issues
Observing the widening gap between theory and research, Coleman highlighted the fundamental contradiction confronting social scientists today Social theory continues to be about the functioning of social systems and behavior, but empirical research is often concerned with explaining individual behavior 1990 1 . Indeed, a key issue that is not always fully addressed by Africanists is that of accounting for the functioning of the political system They tend to draw general conclusions on the...
Figure
Facing such an unusual environment, where most of their quantitative tools need to be readjusted, many political scientists have chosen the easiest way of dealing with the situation using an A2 approach that is, observing microphenomena from the perspectives of individuals and trying to draw general conclusions as to how the system works simply by interpreting individual behavior. In doing so, they fall into the trap of subjectivism and their work is rarely perceived as contributing to...