African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999 (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Rating:
Summary: The Puzzle of African Exceptionalism
Review: Nicolas van de Walle's prize-winning book explains the puzzle of African exceptionalism with an intelligent and nuanced framework. Focusing on the politics behind the seemingly permanent crisis, van de Walle explains the pervasive rise of neopatrimonial rule on the continent -- a political system that depends on patronage and clientelism, and which is a feature of many low-income, largely subsistence-based polities around the world. Van de Walle's dual training in economics and political science, and his extensive experience living and working in many of the countries of the sub-continent, make this book deep, broad, and credible. I've recommended it to many who want to understand what is behind their t.v. screens: why has poverty grown in Africa? Why is this the region most troubled by small-scale political wars? Its scholarly but accessible style, complimented by extensive footnotes and references, also make this an excellent book for students.

Rating:
Summary: The Puzzle of African Exceptionalism
Review: Nicolas van de Walle's prize-winning book explains the puzzle of African exceptionalism with an intelligent and nuanced framework. Focusing on the politics behind the seemingly permanent crisis, van de Walle explains the pervasive rise of neopatrimonial rule on the continent -- a political system that depends on patronage and clientelism, and which is a feature of many low-income, largely subsistence-based polities around the world. Van de Walle's dual training in economics and political science, and his extensive experience living and working in many of the countries of the sub-continent, make this book deep, broad, and credible. I've recommended it to many who want to understand what is behind their t.v. screens: why has poverty grown in Africa? Why is this the region most troubled by small-scale political wars? Its scholarly but accessible style, complimented by extensive footnotes and references, also make this an excellent book for students.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book on African Development for Many Years
Review: The Politics of Permanent Crisis is simply one of the best books on contemporary Africa to come out for ages. The author, who has been writing sensibly on Africa, political reform, and foreign aid issues for many years, takes on a whole range of often contradictory academic work to help explain why Africa has been unable to grow faster despite increasingly levels of external financial assistance. Van de Walle argues coherently that local politics within many African countries have combined with donor practices to militate against the fundamental changes required for African economies to take-off. Seen in this light, the lack of reforms and disappointing outcomes from foreign aid in Africa are not mysteries, but rather the logical outcomes of the incentives under which the various players operate. This is a seminal contribution to our understanding of Africa's economic and political dilemmas -- and an excellent complement to Bill Easterly's "The Elusive Quest for Growth". If there is any shortcoming in the book, it is a minor quibble that van de Walle seems too dismissive of the role of individual leaders in sparking recovery (e.g., surely, Jerry Rawlings and Yoweri Museveni deserve some personal credit for turning Ghana and Uganda around). This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Africa's development challenges and the role of the international community.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book on African Development for Many Years
Review: The Politics of Permanent Crisis is simply one of the best books on contemporary Africa to come out for ages. The author, who has been writing sensibly on Africa, political reform, and foreign aid issues for many years, takes on a whole range of often contradictory academic work to help explain why Africa has been unable to grow faster despite increasingly levels of external financial assistance. Van de Walle argues coherently that local politics within many African countries have combined with donor practices to militate against the fundamental changes required for African economies to take-off. Seen in this light, the lack of reforms and disappointing outcomes from foreign aid in Africa are not mysteries, but rather the logical outcomes of the incentives under which the various players operate. This is a seminal contribution to our understanding of Africa's economic and political dilemmas -- and an excellent complement to Bill Easterly's "The Elusive Quest for Growth". If there is any shortcoming in the book, it is a minor quibble that van de Walle seems too dismissive of the role of individual leaders in sparking recovery (e.g., surely, Jerry Rawlings and Yoweri Museveni deserve some personal credit for turning Ghana and Uganda around). This book is a must-read for anyone interested in Africa's development challenges and the role of the international community.

Rating:
Summary: A Plagiarized Monograph: How the Academy Fails Africa
Review: This book represents Nicolas van de Walle's attempts to characterise Africa's political economy in the era of 'partial reform' in comparative perspective. Unfortunately, this book which could have fulfilled an important lacunae in the field is largely a poorly thought out academic hustle. The analysis is full of mutually contradictory statements, and given the author's evident lack of familiarity with the cases he is comparing with S.S.A. his comparative analysis lacks any bite or merit. Nowhere is this more clear than in his comparisons between Africa and Latin America. For example, according to van de Walle Argentina is a considered 'especially' a case of committed and extensive reform.

Throughout the author cites and misrepresents work with which he is clearly unfamiliar and large sections are plagiarised from uncited sources. In particular, much of the book is plagiarized from my own work which van de Walle reviewed for Comparative Studiesd in Society and History. According to that review -which van de Walle claims was done after the submission of his monograph, but which he had received well before submission, - Africa is unque in the extent to which rent seeking by those close to the regimes characterizes reforms. It is, however, a central pillar of his monograph that this is a universal characteristic of reform.

The author also demonstrates a lack of familiarity with rudimentary social science concepts and cannot even distinguish for example between an African regime and an African State. These failings are glaring, and the book's neoliberal-ideological attempts to correct theoretical misunderstandings about the autonomy of the African state are thus rendered irrelevant. It is clear that van de Walle has never read Weber and does not even comprehend the monograph's key concept neo-patriminonialism.

The author, furthermore does not even have an awareness of the literature on interest groups and reforms, rendering his critique of this literature meaningless and ineffective if not downright dishonest. Any one with rudimentary familiarity of basic work such as Joan Nelson's, Przeworski's, Rodriks etc.. would be forced to conclude that this book is profoundly intellectually dihonest in the conclusions it draws.

Throughout the book, the author's personal value judgements are not accompanied by empirical support particularly where the author engages in the critique of other significant monographs in the discipline. For these reasons, despite sweeping pretense and fanfare the monograph fails to make a significant theoretical or empiraical contribution to the disciplines of comparative and African political economy.

Presently, the matter of this monograph is before the legal department of Cambridge University Press. Litigation is now immanent. I have been represented in this matter by Fraser Milner Casgrain and have now retained a litigator. If you purchase this book you are supporting wholesale [...] and moreover any royalties will eventually come to me along with damages. At any rate there are a range of other books which would serve you far better if you are trying to understand the political economy of Africa.



Rating:
Summary: How the Academy Fails Africa
Review: This book represents Nicolas van de Walle's attempts to characterise Africa's political economy in the era of 'partial reform' in comparative perspective. Unfortunately, this book which could have fulfilled an important lacunae in the field is largely a poorly thought out academic hustle. The analysis is full of mutually contradictory statements, and given the author's evident lack of familiarity with the cases he is comparing with S.S.A. his comparative analysis lacks any bite or merit. Nowhere is this more clear than in his comparisons between Africa and Latin America. Throughout the author cites and misrepresents work with which he is clearly unfamiliar and large sections appear to be plagiarised from uncited sources. The author also demonstrates a lack of familiarity with rudimentary social science concepts and cannot even distinguish for example between an African regime and an African State. These failings are glaring, and the book's attempts to correct theoretical misunderstandings about the autonomy of the African state are rendered irrelevant. Throughout the book, the author's personal value judgements are not accompanied by empirical support particularly where the author engages in the critique of other significant monographs in the discipline. For these reasons, despite sweeping pretense and fanfare the monograph fails to make a significant theoretical or empiraical contribution to the disciplines of comparative and African political economy.