The media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy and vibrant democracy. It is the backbone of any functioning democracy. This book evaluates the role of the news media in The Gambia, in a variety of contexts and the major constraints and challenges which prevent journalism from fulfilling these ideal roles, and the most effective policy interventions available to strengthen the contribution of the news media to both democratic governance and human development. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between the Gambian Press and the military and quasi-military regimes in The Gambia, in the context of press freedom. This book examines in great detail decrees and laws enacted by the AFPRC-APRC regimes which restricted press freedom during the period of military rule in The Gambia and also in the post-coup era. Furthermore, it identifies and analyses the institutional, legal and non-legal measures and mechanisms utilized by the AFPRC-APRC regimes in controlling the Gambian press from 1994 to date. This work also examines both direct and indirect forms of manipulation the Jammeh regime usedforms that have ranged from selective assassination, extra-constitutional decrees, and promulgation of retroactive laws, to bribery, compulsion to self-censorship, and the offer (and acceptance) of lucrative press relations jobs in the government. This work attempts to address this question: how far can autocracies strengthen popular support by silencing dissent and manipulating the news? The many ways that autocracies seek to control the media are documented. How far has the Gambian leader, with the restrictive media environment in the country, succeeded in manipulating public opinion and strengthening his support at home?

The Gambia opened a new chapter in her history after 22 years of authoritarian rule under former dictator Yahya Jammeh, heralding the promise of a ‘New Gambia.’ The country is at a critical juncture in its transition from Jammeh’s autocratic rule to a fully-fledged democracy. The ambitious transitional processes include the Truth Reparations and Reconciliation Commission to create an official record of past abuses and crimes, the Constitutional Review Commission to draft a new Constitution, and the permanent National Human Rights Commission to build a human rights culture. The Gambia in transition: Towards a new constitutional order is a diverse collection of timely, rigorous, and insightful essays on human rights, constitutional reform, rule of law and democratic governance. It serves as an important reference for academics, policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations, human rights defenders, learners, and the public at large.

A former British colony, The Gambia became independent in 1965 and has had only three presidents since then. While The Gambia remained a very poor country under its first prime minister and then president (from 1970), Sir Dawda Jawara, democratic institutions survived, multi-party elections were free and fair, and the country’s human rights record was excellent. In contrast, there were seriously flawed elections and extensive human rights abuses under first the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council and then President Yahya Jammeh. Since Adama Barrow became president in 2017, democratic rule and fair elections have been restored, although many challenges remain; for example, the 2020 Constitution has still not been implemented. This book examines all aspects of recorded Gambian history from the 15th century, when the first European expeditions arrived, to the present. Historical Dictionary of The Gambia, Sixth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 1,000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about The Gambia.

This book presents an innovative model linking insights from democratization, development and conflict studies to explain personalist behavior and their violent transitions. Based on multiple case studies from Sub Saharan Africa, the author maps and predicts regime transitions, presenting examples of how states can avoid such vicious circles of conflict and tyranny. By integrating decades of specialist literature from various subfields of political science, the book models personalist behavior, its impact on the states they govern, and their future transitions. By systematizing regime behavior (coup-proofing, gatekeeping, repression and hoarding), the model identifies the mechanics on how personalist regimes establish vicious circles of personalism and explains how exactly they end up again in authoritarianism or in new personalist tyrannies after their demise, and so seldom transition to democracy. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of African politics, democratization and democratic consolidation, authoritarian rule and more broadly to political science, comparative politics, area studies, political leadership, peace and conflict studies and development studies.

Between 1974 and 1990 more than thirty countries in southern Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe shifted from authoritarian to democratic systems of government. This global democratic revolution is probably the most important political trend in the late twentieth century. In The Third Wave, Samuel P. Huntington analyzes the causes and nature of these democratic transitions, evaluates the prospects for stability of the new democracies, and explores the possibility of more countries becoming democratic. The recent transitions, he argues, are the third major wave of democratization in the modem world. Each of the two previous waves was followed by a reverse wave in which some countries shifted back to authoritarian government. Using concrete examples, empirical evidence, and insightful analysis, Huntington provides neither a theory nor a history of the third wave, but an explanation of why and how it occurred. Factors responsible for the democratic trend include the legitimacy dilemmas of authoritarian regimes; economic and social development; the changed role of the Catholic Church; the impact of the United States, the European Community, and the Soviet Union; and the "snowballing" phenomenon: change in one country stimulating change in others. Five key elite groups within and outside the nondemocratic regime played roles in shaping the various ways democratization occurred. Compromise was key to all democratizations, and elections and nonviolent tactics also were central. New democracies must deal with the "torturer problem" and the "praetorian problem" and attempt to develop democratic values and processes. Disillusionment with democracy, Huntington argues, is necessary to consolidating democracy. He concludes the book with an analysis of the political, economic, and cultural factors that will decide whether or not the third wave continues. Several "Guidelines for Democratizers" offer specific, practical suggestions for initiating and carrying out reform. Huntington's emphasis on practical application makes this book a valuable tool for anyone engaged in the democratization process. At this volatile time in history, Huntington's assessment of the processes of democratization is indispensable to understanding the future of democracy in the world.

Freedom in the World, the Freedom House flagship survey whose findings have been published annually since 1972, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The survey ratings and narrative reports on 195 countries and fifteen territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. The Freedom in the World political rights and civil liberties ratings are determined through a multi-layered process of research and evaluation by a team of regional analysts and eminent scholars. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information, including foreign and domestic news reports, academic studies, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region, in conducting their research. The methodology of the survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development.

Develops a social psychological approach to revolutions through analyzes of cases from around the world and during different historical periods.

This book brings together a number of leading experts in the fields of public law, political science and democratization studies to identify ways of making African governments accountable and describe the extent to which these mechanisms work in practice. It presents new knowledge about legal and political developments in a number of African countries, relevant to the policy goal of developing and deepening democratic governance and accountable government on the continent. This book will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners in the fields of public law, public administration, political studies and African studies.