Analysing post-colonial Africa

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Africa, grade: Frist Class, Royal Holloway, University of London, course: Politics of Africa, language: English, abstract: African politics is accepted at being a unique type of politics. This essay will first endeavour to discuss two main aspects affecting the lack of separation between the two realms (public and private) in African politics. It will further move on to explain how the features of African politics described can be understood under a Neo-Patrimonial Regime. This essay will discuss the degree to which the colonial legacy of ¿institutionalization¿ has lasted or shaped African politics today. In the first part of this study I intend to answer the question, in what ways has colonialism shaped African politics? Once that is established, the next part of the study will explain the degree to which colonialism has had an impact on contemporary African politics. In order to carry this out, the latter part of the essay will apply the paradigm arrived at in the first half to the contours of existing African political regimes today. This study should be successful in portraying the depth and importance of pre-colonial traditional African politics in post-colonial Africa.