Book Review: Africa: Nigerian Political Parties
| Published date | 01 December 1964 |
| Author | Douglas G. Anglin |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206401900436 |
| Date | 01 December 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
589
ingly
outdated
(President
Kennedy,
the
Monrovia Powers,
the
Casa-
blanca
bloc-now
all
replaced),
because
it
sets
forth
in
lucid
but
not
simplistic
language
the
shades
of
grey and
the
nuances
of
vocabulary
in
modern
African diplomatic,
political
and
economic
affairs.
The
author
stresses
the
inseparable
inter-relationship
of economic
development
and political
stability
in
emergent
nations,
stressing,
in
the
first
instance,
the
modernization
and
capitalization of
agriculture,
and,
in
the
second
instance,
the primary
"inward-looking"
rather
than
"uncommitted"
character
of
so-called
neutralism.
Rivkin
discerns
a
major
correlation
between
the
existence
of democracy
and
the
pres-
ence of
federalism-as
contrasted with
a
tendency
of
authoritarianism
in
the
unitary
states--and
tends
persistently
(perhaps
too
much,
even
though
he
tries
to
justify
himself)
to hold
Nigeria
up as
a
model
and
Ghana
or
Guinea
as
the antithetical
example.
To
a
considerable
degree--again,
despite
obvious
efforts
to
avoid
this
pitfall-the
writer
has
tended to
present
a
less
forceful
or
clear
picture
of
the
position
of
F'Afrique
francophone.
In this,
he
is
of
course
not
unusual
among English-language
writers;
indeed
he
is
less
guilty
than
most.
One
would
particularly
like
to
see
this
book
in the
hands
of
legis-
lators,
columnists
and
policymakers in
the
more
developed
countries
because
it
contains
much
evidence
that
the
questions
and answers
for
Africa
are neither
simple
nor
clear-cut.
The
outlines
of
"Nationalism,
Pan-Africanism
and
Eurafricanism",
the
discussions
of
"Africaniza-
tion"
and
of
agriculture,
and
the
assessments
of
the
varieties
and
meanings
of
"neutralism"
are
effective
and
provoking.
The
author
does
not
avoid
either
forceful
opinion
or
soundly-based
predictions
and
must
be
praised
for
such
rare
unequivocation.
The
net
effect
of
the
book,
and
its
recommendations,
are
still
wholly
valid,
not-
withstanding
the
changes
or
disappearances
of
some of
the
institutions
Rivkin
discusses.
There
are
good
notes
and
an
index,
but,
regrettably,
no biblio-
graphy;
the
appendices
contain
numerous
unfortunate
and
unnecessary
errors
quite
out
of
character
with
the
rest
of
the
book.
University
of
Alberta
DONALD
L.
WIEDNER
NIGERIAN
POLITICAL
PARTIES.
Power
in
an
Emergent
African
Nation.
By
Richard
L.
Sklar.
1963.
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press.
Toronto:
S.
J.
Reginald
Saunders.
xi,
578pp.
$12.50)
This
is
the
third major
study to
appear
on
Nigerian
politics
in
the
pre-Independence period.
Coleman's
Nigeria:
Background
to
Nation-
alism
traced
the
roots
of
nationalism
up
to
the
early
1950's.
Post's
Nigerian
Federal
Election
of
1959
analyzed
the
political
scene
on
the
eve
of
Independence.
Sklar's
welcome
volume
fills
in
the
intervening
years
during
which
the
principle
of independence
had
been
conceded
but
had
not
yet
become
a
reality.
It
is
also
the
first
book
to deal
specifically
with
Nigerian
political
parties.
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