While Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana from 1962 to 1964, the author personally observed the evolving legal order in Ghana during a crucial period in that country's development. Here, he considers statutes and judicial decisions. Working from the premise that law is a value-neutral technique of social ordering and derives its value content from a dominant elite, Professor Harvey places the important Ghanaian constitutional and legal developments in their social context. He concludes that although democratic values have dominated the basic structure of public power, autocratic values have determined the realities of political life in Ghana. Originally published in 1966. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This classic work in the anthropology of law offers ambitiously conceived analyses of the fundamental rights and duties treated as law among nonliterate peoples. The heart of the book is an analysis of the law of five societies: the Eskimo; the Ifugao; the Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne tribes; the Trobriand Islanders; and the Ashanti.

Originally published in 1951, this book provides an account of the traditional status and functions of the Asanti chief. The effects of British administration on the powers of the chief and his council are described, as are the tensions which the traditional political organization was subjected to by the requirements of modern administration. The author of this book was himself an Ashanti and was the first West African tobe appointed to the Colonial Adminstrative Service.

Gyekye offers a philosophical interpretation and critical analysis of the African cultural experience in modern times, and shows how Western philosophical concepts help in addressing a wide range of specifically African problems.

A detailed and richly nuanced historical portrait of pre-colonial Asante.