Warlord Democrats in Africa
Subtitle: Ex-Military Leaders and Electoral Politics
Publisher: Zed Books, Limited
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 254
ISBN-13: 9781783602513
Subjects: Africa, politics and government; Politicians, africa
Description: "Post-war democratization has been identified as a crucial mechanism to build peace in war-ridden societies, supposedly allowing belligerents to compete through ballots rather than bullets. A byproduct of this process, however, is that military leaders often become an integral part of the new democratic system, using resources and networks generated from the previous war to dominate the emerging political landscape.The crucial and thus-far overlooked question to be addressed, therefore, is what effect the inclusion of ex-militaries into electoral politics has on post-war security. Can 'warlord democrats' make a positive contribution by shepherding their wartime constituencies to support the building of peace and democracy, or are they likely to use their electoral platforms to sponsor political violence and keep war-affected communities mobilized through aggressive discourses?"