NS3311 Government and Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa

This course is designed for graduate students with little or no background in the study of African government and politics. It introduces students to the main structures and processes of contemporary African politics, and to important theoretical debates in the field of African studies. The emphasis is less on formal institutions of government and more on the informal practices that compromise the primary arena of African government and politics. Prerequisites: None.

Lecture Hours

4

Lab Hours

0

Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe key features of African polities and understand how these features vary across African countries.
• Apply major theoretical perspectives in African politics to analyze real-world historical and contemporary events.
• Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the major methodological and research tools used to study African politics and security.
• Describe the contemporary political issues and challenges of specific countries and sub-regions in Africa.