The Military and African Politics
| Author | L. Gray Cowan |
| Published date | 01 September 1966 |
| Date | 01 September 1966 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070206602100301 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Military
and African
Politics
L.
Gray
Cowan*
The
successful
military
coups
which have
taken
place
in
seven
African
states
over
the
course
of
the
past
year
have
led
to
a
re-evaluation
of
the
role
of
the
military
in
Africa
and
of
the
future
development
of
the
single
most
important
characteristic
of
post-independence political
systems
in
Africa,
the
single
party
Over
the
past
decade
the
single
party
has
been
praised
by
a
variety
of
African
leaders
as
the
most
satisfactory
method
of
achieving
national
unification and
of
promoting
modernization.
It
has
been
regarded
as
the
most
appropriate
instrument
for
the
mobilization
of
the
entire
community
and
as
a
mechanism
for forging
national
unity
Kwame
Nkrumah,
the
former
leader
of
Ghana,
has
stated
flatly
"One
party
rule
is
the
most appro-
priate
political
instrument for
ending
tribalism
and
for
planning
development."
The
importance
attached
to the
single
party
derives
in
part
from
the
conviction
of
the
new
political
6lite
that
the
creation
of
national
political
institutions
is
essential
in
order
to
overcome
the
counter-modernizing
forces
represented
by
traditional
powers.
Consequently politics
and
the
political
process,
in
which
the
role
of
the
national
leader
figures
prominently
take
on
an
exaggerated
role
in
new
African
nations
to the
point where
the
personality
of
the
leader
has,
in
some
countries
at
least,
tended
to
be
invested
with
an
almost
religious symbolism.
The
function
of
the
political
party
becomes one
not
only
of
aggregating
the
interests
of
modernizing groups
within
the
society
but
also
one
of
restructuring
interest
groups by
destroying
traditional
group-
ings
and
replacing
them with
new
groups
which
are
more
liable
to
be
amenable
to
the
fundamental
changes
in
society
which
the
nationalist
leadership
is
determined
to
make.
The
emphasis
on
the
single
party
as
the
foundation
of
the
political
structure
has
led
to
the
personalization
of
power
and
its
concentration
in
the
hands
of
a
strong
executive
president.
Director,
Institute
of
African
Studies,
Columbia
University.
To continue reading
Request your trial