Office Hours: 314 TH, Mondays, 3:30-4:30pm and by appointment

Last Updated: 2024-10-28

Course Schedule

Generally, I recommend reading the materials in the order listed on the course schedule below. To do well in this course, you need to read efficiently and critically engage with the materials. You should come to each class prepared to discuss the readings’ main arguments, methods, and contributions.


1. Course Overview

26 August 2024

  • Binyavanga, Wainaina. 2005. “How to Write About Africa.” Granta. https://granta.com/how-to-write-about-africa/
  • Hyden, Goran. 2024. Theorizing Comparative Politics: Democratization in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 177 pages.

If you have no prior knowledge of African Politics beyond U.S. media, I highly recommend that you also read the following book before the semester begins:

  • Fayolin, Dipo. 2022. Africa Is Not a Country: Notes from a Bright Continent. New York: WW Norton. 400 pages.


2. Democratic Experiments

9 September 2024

  • Cheeseman, Nic and Sishuwa Sishuwa. 2021. “African Studies Keyword: Democracy.” African Studies Review, 64(3): 704-732. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2021.43.
  • Ake, Claude. 1993. “The Unique Case of African Democracy.” International Affairs, 69(2): 239-244. https://doi.org/10.2307/2621592.
  • Bratton, Michael and Nicholas van de Walle. 1997. Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 332 pages.


3. Democratic Backsliding

16 September 2024

  • Arriola, Leonardo R., Lise Rakner, and Nicholas van de Walle (eds.). 2023. Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 320 pages. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192867322.001.0001
  • Obiagu, Uchenna C., Ifeanyichuckwu Michael Abada, and Peter Oluchukwu Mbah. 2022. “Autocratization Verity: Insights from Democratic Setbacks in Africa.” The African Review, 48(2): 301-332. https://doi.org/10.1163/1821889X-12340051
  • Cassani, Andrea. 2020. “Autocratization by Term Limits Manipulation in sub-Saharan Africa.” Africa Spectrum, 55(3): 228-250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720964218

Visit from UA Librarian, Ann Marie Fabian. Bring a laptop or tablet.


4. Leadership and Big Man Rule

23 September 2024

Research Project Consultation #1 and Final Exam approval by 27 September 2024.


5. Customary Institutions

30 September 2024

  • Baldwin, Kate. 2015. The Paradox of Traditional Chiefs in Democratic Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press. 260 pages.
  • Ekeh, Peter P. 1975. “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 17(1): 91-112. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500007659
  • Neupert-Wentz, Clara and Carl Müller-Crepon. 2024. “Traditional Institutions in Africa: Past and Present.” Political Science Research and Methods, 12(2): 267-284. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2023.50.

Research Project Proposals due 11:59pm, 06 October 2024.


6. Legislatures

7 October 2024

  • Opalo, Ken Ochieng’. 2018. Legislative Development in Africa: Politics and Postcolonial Legacies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 296 pages.
  • Gerzso, Thalia and Nicholas van de Walle. 2022. “The Politics of Legislative Expansion in Africa.” Comparative Political Studies, 55(14): 2315-2348. https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140221074277
  • Ambasa, Elijah, Oscar Otele, and Gedion Onyango. 2022. “Trends and Gaps in African Legislative Research: Major Topics from the 1960s-2021.” The African Review, 49(4): 428-460. https://doi.org/10.1163/1821889X-bja10013


7. The Courts

14 October 2024

  • Shen-Bayh, Fiona Feiang. 2022. Undue Process: Persecution and Punishment in Autocratic Courts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 240 pages.
  • Erlich, Aaron, Nicholas Kerr, and Saewon Park. 2023. “Weaponizing Post-Election Court Challenges: Assessing Losers’ Motivations.” Electoral Studies, 86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102676
  • Bartels, Brandon L. and Eric Kramon. 2020. “Does Public Support for Judicial Power Depend on Who is in Political Power? Testing a Theory of Partisan Alignment in Africa.” American Political Science Review, 114(1): 144-163. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055419000704.

Research Project Consultation #2 by 18 October 2024


8. Elections

21 October 2024

  • Cheeseman, Nic, Gabrielle Lynch, and Justin Willis. 2021. The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa: Democracy, Voting, and Virtue. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 376 pages.


9. Campaigns and Opposition

28 October 2024

  • Weghorst, Keith. 2022. Activist Origins of Political Ambition: Opposition Candidacy in Africa’s Electoral Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 300 pages.
  • Arriola, Leonardo R., Jed Devaro, and Anne Meng. 2021. “Democratic Subversion: Elite Cooptation and Opposition Fragmentation.” American Political Science Review, 115(4): 1358-1372. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055421000629
  • Kao, Kristen, Ellen Lust, and Lise Rakner. 2022. “Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African Elections.” World Development, 160: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106064.
  • Borzyskowski, Iken von and Patrick M. Kuhn. 2020. “Dangerously Informed: Voter Information and Pre-electoral Violence in Africa.” Journal of Peace Research, 57(1): 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343319885166


10. Writing Break

4 November 2024

  • No class. This is an extended break for writing.

Suggested readings on women and politics (fair game for comprehensive exams):

  • Gottlieb, Jessica, Guy Grossman, and Amanda Lea Robinson. 2016. “Do Men and Women Have Different Policy Preferences in Africa? Determinants and Implications of Gender Gaps in Policy Prioritization.” British Journal of Political Science, 48(3): 611-636. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123416000053.
  • Dieng, Rama Salla, Toni Haastrup, and Alice J. Kang. “Centering Feminists and Feminism in Protests in Africa.” Politics & Gender, 1-4, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X22000769.
  • Edgell, Amanda B. 2018. “Vying for a Man Seat: Gender Quotas and Sustainable Representation in Africa.” African Studies Review, 61(1): 185-214. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2017.136
  • Saaka, Saaka Sulemana and Abiba Yayah. 2024. “Gender and legislative committees in Africa: a study of Rwanda and South Africa.” The Journal of Legislative Studies, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2024.2381155.
  • Kroeger, Alex and Alice J. Kang. 2022. “The Appointment of Women to Authoritarian Cabinets in Africa.” Government & Opposition, First View. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2022.32.
  • Dawuni, Josephine and Alice Kang. 2015. “Her Ladyship Chief Justice: The Rise of Female Leaders in the Judiciary in Africa.” Africa Today, 62(2): 45-69. https://doi.org/10.2979/africatoday.62.2.45.


11. Social Mobilization

11 November 2024

  • Mueller, Lisa. 2018. Political Protest in Contemporary Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 274 pages.
  • Schmiedl, Martin and Alberto Lioy. 2024. “Patterns of Protest in Contemporary Africa: An Empirical Investigation of Regional Trends Employing Multiple Imputation.” Political Studies Review, Online First. https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299241239913
  • Harris, Adam S. and Erin Hern. 2018. “Taking to the Streets: Protest as an Expression of Political Preference in Africa.” Comparative Political Studies, 52(8): 1169-1199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414018806540


12. Religious Politics

18 November 2024

  • McClendon, Gwyneth H. and Rachel Beatty Riedl. 2019. From Pews to politics: Religious Sermons and Political Participation in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 288 pages.
  • Grossman, Guy. 2015. “Renewalist Christianity and the Political Salience of LGBTs: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of Politics, 77(2): 337-351. https://doi.org/10.1086/679596
  • Dreier, Sarah K., James D. Long, and Stephen J. Winkler. 2020. “African, Religious, and Tolerant? How Religious Diversity Shapes Attitudes Toward Sexual Minorities in Africa.” Politics and Religion, 13(2): 273-303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048319000348
  • Klinken, Adriaan van, Barbara Bompani, and Damaris Parsitau. 2023. “Religious Leaders as Agents of LGBTQ Inclusion in East Africa.” African Affairs, 122:299-312. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adad012

Final paper drafts due by 11:59pm on 22 November 2024


13. Paper Presentations

2 December 2024

  • Read-ahead style workshop: review papers and prepare comments on your peers’ papers in advance.

Consultation #3 for Research Projects and Final Exam meeting forms due by 06 December 2024


14. Final Papers and Exams

12 December 2024, 10:30am-12:30pm

  • Final Exam Period
  • Final paper must be uploaded by 11:59pm.