Book Review: Africa: One-Party Government in Mali
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206602100347 |
| Author | Gwendolen M. Carter |
| Published date | 01 September 1966 |
| Date | 01 September 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
411
ments
may
not
prosper
over
a
long
period
but
may
work
reasonably
well if
animated
by
a
sense
of
purpose.
Pan-Africanism,
as
providing
the
sense
of
purpose,
was
an
element
in
public political
speeches
in
East
Africa,
but
it
failed
to
inspire
politicians
at
the
negotiating
table
where
hard
bargaining
and
horse-trading
were
the
rule.
Pan-Africanism
may
be
the
great strategy
but
integration
is
political
tactics.
The
author
puts
forward
a
strong
case
for
the
view
that
ideology
(whether
it
hinders or
helps
integration)
must
be
raised
from
a
background
role
to
that
of
a
major
consideration. There
may
be
readers
who
would
argue
the
point,
but
anyone
concerned
with
East
Africa
in
particular,
or
the
role
of
ideology
in
general,
will
find
this
close,
balanced
and
contemporary
account
extremely interesting.
Much
of
its
flavour
comes
from
printed
material
and
interviews with local
politicians
that
would
not
be
available
to the
public
but
for
the
author's
industry
Frequent
reference
is
made
to
current
literature
on
this
and related
topics
and
there
is
a
good
working bibliography
including
notations
of
periodical
material.
I
would
warmly
recommend
the
book
to
readers
interested
in modern
Africa.
Californwa
State
College
JANE BANFIELD
HAYNES
ONE-PARTY
GOVERNMENT
IN
MALI: TRANSITION
TOWARD
CONTROL.
By
Frank
Gregory
Snyder.
1965.
(New
Haven:
Yale
University
Press.
Montreal:
McGill
University
Press.
xiv
178pp.
$5.00)
It
is
a
mark,
not
only
of
the
strikingly
rapid
growth, but
also
of
the
maturity
of
African
Studies
in
the
United
States
that
a
useful
and,
indeed,
perceptive
book
on Africa,
like
this
one,
is
the
outgrowth
of
an
undergraduate
political
science
senior
essay
Based on
field
re-
search
done
under the
direction
of
his
Yale
adviser,
William
J.
Foltz,
one of
the
well
known
specialists
on
French-speaking
West
Africa,
Frank
Snyder's
One-Party Government
in
Mali
is
a worthy
addition
to the
limited
body
of
material
that
we
have
on
an
exceptionally
in-
teresting
country
Mali
is
commonly considered
to
be
the outstanding
example
in
Africa
of
a
mobilizing
r6gime.
Snyder's
book
concerns
itself
primarily
with
political
groups and
struggles,
showing
the
interaction
of
certain
strongly
held
ideas
and
organized African
politics.
He
traces
both
the
origins and
the
growth
of
the
Union
Soudanaise-RDA,
bringing
out
clearly
the marked
differences
in
its
position
and
problems
in
the
pre-
independence
and
post-independence
periods.
All
nationalist
parties
in
Africa
have
confronted
the
necessity
of
changing
pace,
appeal,
and
goals
once
they
achieve
their
original supreme
objective, independence,
and
the transition
in
Mali
to
a
governing
rfgime
is
a
particularly
in-
teresting
one.
Mr.
Snyder
identifies
five
steps
in
the formation
of
the
Union
Soudanaise:
the
formation
of
an
61ite;
the establishment
of
contacts
between
the
6lite's
members; the
attachment
of
mass
followings
to
members
of
the
elite;
the
establishment
of
links
between
followers
of
different members
of
the
elite;
and
the
incentives
that
lead to
the
formation
of
the
political
party
It
seems
clear
that
the
existence
of
a
To continue reading
Request your trial