"African politics is one of the most vibrant and dynamic areas of research, and the fastest growing. In addition to important debates around the potential for democratic consolidations, the drivers of ethnic violence, the barriers to development, and the role of foreign powers, researchers are engaged in an important conversation about the need to "decolonize" African studies and to make sure that we study Africa ethically. This volume - the largest ever published on African politics - provides essential insights into these all of questions and many many more. Bringing together world leading researchers from Africa, the United States and Europe, it features cutting-edge chapters on a remarkably broad range of topics including helpful chapters on key methodologies and approaches as well as all of the major topics in the discipline. Each clearly written piece provides a concise summary of the state of the art before drawing on new ideas and evidence to push the debate forward. The volume is therefore essential reading for both first time students and established researchers. Curated by a widely respected team of editors, particular areas of strength include: political institutions; identity politics and the significance of ethnicity and religion; the African state and its strengths and weaknesses; development politics; economic policy and management; ideas and ideologies; international relations and regional politics; conflict, violence and civil war; political and social movements; media and political communication; elections and democracy; research methods and approaches; and, ethics and the politics of research"--

With over 400 A-Z entries, this new dictionary provides clear and authoritative definitions of terms within the fast-growing field of African Politics. It includes coverage on elections, parties and judiciaries, but also popular protest, gender-relations, the politics of development, and Africa's international relations. Entries comprise of major events and figures within African Politics, including the East African Community and independance, as well as covering key terms of particular relevance to Africa such as neopatrimonialism, queue voting, and post-conflict power sharing. Written by a world-leading political scientist working on the area of African politics, this dictionary is an essential guide for both undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as academics, journalists, and researchers working on African politics alike.

The Encyclopedia of Africa presents the most up-to-date and thorough reference on this region of ever-growing importance in world history, politics, and culture. Its core is comprised of the entries focusing on African history and culture from 2005's acclaimed five-volume Africana - nearly two-thirds of these 1,300 entries have been updated, revised, and expanded to reflect the most recent scholarship. Organized in an A-Z format, the articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa. There are articles on contemporary nations of sub-Saharan Africa, ethnic groups from various regions of Africa, and European colonial powers. Other examples include Congo River, Ivory trade, Mau Mau rebellion, and Pastoralism. The Encyclopedia of Africa is sure to become the essential resource in the field.

Scholars and students of African politics address some of the thorniest issues of our time. Indeed, over the last thirty years or so, the subdiscipline has expanded in scope and ambition, and leads the way in major fields of research, such as the study of ethnicity and identity politics. Now, this timely new collection from Routledge brings together the classic and essential texts of African politics, creating a top-quality and easily accessible resource for students, researchers, and policymakers alike. Each volume is introduced by a comprehensive summary chapter, newly written by the editor, which both provides a valuable overview of the key trends in the literature and explains what we know, what we don't know, and what controversies remain.

Africa is a continent of 54 countries and over a billion people. However, despite the rich diversity of the African experience, it is striking that continuations and themes seem to be reflected across the continent, particularly south of the Sahara. Questions of underdevelopment, outside exploitation, and misrule are characteristic of many - if not most-states in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this Very Short Introduction Ian Taylor explores how politics is practiced on the African continent, considering the nature of the state in Sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. Exploring the historical and contemporary factors which account for Africa's underdevelopment, he also analyses why some African countries suffer from high levels of political violence while others are spared. Unveilling the ways in which African state and society actually function beyond the formal institutional façade, Taylor discusses how external factors - both inherited and contemporary - act upon the continent. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This best-selling dictionary contains over 1,700 entries on all aspects of politics. Written by a leading team of political scientists, it embraces the whole multi-disciplinary specturm of political theory including political thinkers, history, institutions, and concepts, as well as notable current affairs that have shaped attitudes to politics. An appendix contains timelines listing the principal office-holders of a range of countries including the UK, Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and China. Fully revised and updated for the 3rd edition, the dictionary includes a wealth of new material in areas such as international relations, political science, political economy, and methodologies, as well as a chronology of key political theorists. It also boasts entry-level web links that don't go out of date. These can be accessed via a regularly checked and updated companion website, ensuring that the links remain relevent, and any dead links are replaced or removed. The dictionary has international coverage and will prove invaluable to students and academics studying politics and related disciplines, as well as politicians, journalists, and the general reader seeking clarification of political terms.

The difficulties of exploring African history, especially for earlier periods, have spurred the development of a wide range of methodologies and approaches, such that Wyatt McGaffey once termed it "the decathlon of the social sciences." Historians have long utilized archaeology, ethnography, historical linguistics, and oral traditions in their study of the continent, but are only beginning to explore the possibilities of genetics or many of the techniques used by modern archaeology and other emerging sciences. And as digital sources-from historical documents and statistics to cartographic, climatic, demographic, and environmental modeling-proliferate, so do the problems in using them. The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Historiography: Methods and Sources examines how these developments have influenced the scholarship that historians produce. Such methods continue to evolve, demanding that historians develop basic understandings of them. Thus, the two-volume Encyclopedia builds a theoretical foundation for the field, expanding the ways that Africa can be studied, and recovering the histories of the continent that often appear outside of the documentary record.

This encyclopedia reviews and interprets a broad array of social science and humanities research on LGBT people, politics, and public policy around the world. The articles are organized around six major themes of the study of identity politics, with a focus on movement politics, public attitudes, political institutions, elections, and the broader context of political theory. Through peer-reviewed contributions by leading researchers, the encyclopedia offers the most comprehensive view of research on LGBT politics and policy to date.

It is impossible to understand America without understanding the history of African Americans. In nearly seven hundred entries, the Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895 documents the full range of the African American experience during that period - from the arrival of the first slave ship to the death of Frederick Douglass - and shows how all aspects of American culture, history, and national identity have been profoundly influenced by the experience of African Americans.The Encyclopedia covers an extraordinary range of subjects. Major topics such as "Abolitionism," "Black Nationalism," the "Civil War," the "Dred Scott case," "Reconstruction," "Slave Rebellions and Insurrections," the "Underground Railroad," and "Voting Rights" are given the in-depth treatment one would expect. But the encyclopedia also contains hundreds of fascinating entries on less obvious subjects, such as the "African Grove Theatre," "Black Seafarers," "Buffalo Soldiers," the "Catholic Church and African Americans," "Cemeteries and Burials," "Gender," "Midwifery," "New York African Free Schools," "Oratory and Verbal Arts," "Religion and Slavery," the "Secret Six," and much more. In addition, the Encyclopedia offers brief biographies of important African Americans - as well as white Americans who have played a significant role in African American history - from Crispus Attucks, John Brown, and Henry Ward Beecher to Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, Sarah Grimke, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Phillis Wheatley, and many others.All of the Encyclopedia's alphabetically arranged entries are accessibly written and free of jargon and technical terms. To facilitate ease of use, many composite entries gather similar topics under one headword. The entry for Slave Narratives, for example, includes three subentries: The Slave Narrative in America from the Colonial Period to the Civil War, Interpreting Slave Narratives, and African and British Slave Narratives. A headnote detailing the various subentries introduces each composite entry. Selective bibliographies and cross-references appear at the end of each article to direct readers to related articles within the Encyclopedia and to primary sources and scholarly works beyond it. A topical outline, chronology of major events, nearly 300 black and white illustrations, and comprehensive index further enhance the work's usefulness.

"African politics is one of the most vibrant and dynamic areas of research, and the fastest growing. In addition to important debates around the potential for democratic consolidations, the drivers of ethnic violence, the barriers to development, and the role of foreign powers, researchers are engaged in an important conversation about the need to "decolonize" African studies and to make sure that we study Africa ethically. This volume - the largest ever published on African politics - provides essential insights into these all of questions and many many more. Bringing together world leading researchers from Africa, the United States and Europe, it features cutting-edge chapters on a remarkably broad range of topics including helpful chapters on key methodologies and approaches as well as all of the major topics in the discipline. Each clearly written piece provides a concise summary of the state of the art before drawing on new ideas and evidence to push the debate forward. The volume is therefore essential reading for both first time students and established researchers. Curated by a widely respected team of editors, particular areas of strength include: political institutions; identity politics and the significance of ethnicity and religion; the African state and its strengths and weaknesses; development politics; economic policy and management; ideas and ideologies; international relations and regional politics; conflict, violence and civil war; political and social movements; media and political communication; elections and democracy; research methods and approaches; and, ethics and the politics of research"--