ABSTRACT
This chapter considers that Africa ought to be studied according to the theories of (economic and political) development that apply, or are thought to apply, to the rest of the world. It discusses very briefly the so-called democratic transition. The chapter offers an analysis of why it is that the nature of politics in Africa today makes good government difficult. It recasts the recent changes within the constraints on power on the continent. Contemporary politics in Africa is best understood as the exercise of neopatrimonial power. In a neopatrimonial system, political accountability rests on the extent to which patrons are able to both influence and meet the expectations of their followers according to well-established norms of reciprocity. African political systems today exhibit three intriguing characteristics deserving careful analysis, if only because they go against prevailing expectations. The manner in which power is understood and exercised helps to explain why politics in contemporary Africa diverges from that of the West.
