Answer to Question #265093 in Political Science for Larry

Question

Ethnicity as a phenomenal to Africa politics.state the problem and how it can be solved

Answer 1

Ethnicity is now universally regarded as a key element in the political process in African states. Paradoxically, despite its contemporary currency, the word itself in current usage is recent, first appearing in the Oxford English Dictionary only in 1953. In earlier times, African ethnic groups were commonly labeled as “tribes,” a term that has mostly disappeared from academic usage, owing to its judgmental overtones of “backwardness.”

 Ethnicity in politics is often accompanied by gross human rights violations, such as genocide and crimes against humanity, and by economic decline, state failure, environmental problems, and refugee flows. Violent ethnic conflict leads to tremendous human suffering. Politics of ethnicity has been the dominant determining factor in electioneering at the national level in Africa. Individuals and groups have been mobilized on the basis of a common culture and a common language, as well as the habitation of a common territory and this has led to electing of the wrong leaders hence dragging back development of African countries.

This problem can be solved through youth education where the young generation is educated on the importance of ensuring uniformity when electing leaders and the dangers of aggression, discrimination, and hatred.