Answer to Question #233932 in Political Science for manayka

Question

In 1500 words, discuss with examples how the following ideologies shaped political actions in Africa.

Ideologies: nationalism, scientific socialism, African socialism, populism and state capitalism

Answer 1

Postcolonial Africa has been characterized by socio-political and economic challenges that have in-turn presented the continent in bad light globally. At the center of these challenges has been the role and actions of African political leaders.Nationalism holds that each nation should govern itself, free from outside interference (self-determination), that a nation is a natural and ideal basis for a polity and that the nation is the only rightful source of political power. Desire for nationalism pushed for Pan-Africanism which emphasized the unity of Africans and people of African descent. This gave rise to the political independence.

Scientific socialism refers to a method for understanding and predicting social, economic and material phenomena by examining their historical trends through the use of the scientific method in order to derive probable outcomes and probable future developments. An example is the Ujamaa norm in Tanzania where leaders seek ideology in human actions combined with greater extent of statements of principle. These ideologies have led to determination of successful arena in Tanzania and several other countries in Africa.

African socialism became a mobilizing slogan to unite Africans around the challenge of economic development in their postcolonial societies. The communal basis of most African precolonial societies and the absence of a tradition of private property appeared to justify the existence of an indigenous African path to socialism, one that seemingly offered a third way between Western capitalism and Sovietcommunism. Its best-known proponents included Léopold Senghor and Mamadou Dia of Senegal, Sékou Touré of Guinea, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Tom Mboya of Kenya, and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.

Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasise the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against "the elite.'' Existing literature has tended to focus on leaders who contributed to the colonial struggle and little has been written on the emerging trend of populist leaders in the continent. Postcolonial Africa has been characterized by socio-political and economic challenges that have in-turn presented the continent in bad light globally. At the center of these challenges has been the role and actions of African political leaders.

Capitalism in Africa often assumes strong institutional contexts and actors. This includes strong governments, civil society, and effective or efficient regulations and governance, as well as strong cultural alignment between African societies and the principles of Western capitalism.