Description
Former liberation movements in Southern Africa have become authoritarian and elitist governments who reward party loyalty and are hostile to outsiders.

Is authoritarianism built into liberation structures? Is it inherited from colonial systems? Is liberal democracy inherently elitist? Popular support for the struggle was often based on mystification, coercion and the manipulation of internal contradictions; while in contrast, independence by negotiation has lead to multi-party democracies.

This ground-breaking collection of essays on Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa opens a long-awaited debate on these and other related issues.

Edited by Namibian and former SWAPO activist Henning Melber, currently Research Director of the Nordic Africa Institute in Sweden, its contributors include Kenneth Good, Ian Taylor, Francis Nyamnjoh, Amin Kamete, Suzanne Dansereau, Roger Southall, Martin Legassick, Raymond Suttner and Krista Johnson.

The volume is compiled by the HSRC Democracy & Governance Research Programme in association with the Journal of Contemporary African Studies and the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Acronyms
Introduction

1 Democracy and the Control of Elites
Kenneth Good

2 Liberation and Opposition in Zimbabwe
Suzanne Danserau

3 In Defence of National Sovereignty? Urban Governance and Democracy in Zimbabwe
Amin Kamete

4 As Good as It Gets? Botswanas Democratic Development
Ian Taylor

5 Chieftaincy and the Negotiation of Might and Right in Botswanas Democracy
Francis B. Nyamnjoh

6 Between Competing Paradigms: Post-Colonial Legitimacy in Lesotho
Roger Southall

7 From Controlled Change to Changed Control: The Case of Namibia
Henning Melber

8 Armed Struggle in South Africa: Consequences of a Strategy Debate
Martin Legassick

9 Culture(s) of the African National Congress of South Africa: Imprint of Exile Experiences
Raymond Suttner

10 Liberal or Liberation Framework? The Contradictions of ANC Rule in South Africa
Krista Johnson

Contributors
Index