An introduction to African politics / Alex Thomson.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: State, civil society and external interests -- History : Africa's pre-colonial and colonial inheritance ; Case study : Kenya's historical inheritance -- Ideology : nationalism, socialism, populism and state capitalism ; Case study : socialism and ujamaa in Tanzania -- Ethnicity and religion : 'tribes', gods and political identity ; Case study : ethnicity, religion and the nation-state in Nigeria -- Social class : the search for class politics in Africa ; Case study : social class in Botswana -- Legitimacy : neo-patrimonialism, personal rule and the centralisation of the African state ; Case study : personal rule in Côte d'Ivoire -- Coercion : military intervention in African politics ; Case study : Uganda's 1971 military coup -- Sovereignty I : external influences on African politics ; Case study : Somalia's international relations -- Sovereignty II : neo-colonialism, structural adjustment and Africa's political economy ; Case study : Ghana's structural adjustment -- Authority : the crisis of accumulation, governance and state collapse ; Case study : Zaire, Mobutu's vampire state -- Democracy : re-legitimising the African state? ; Case study : Zimbabwe's fall from democractic grace -- Conclusions: State and civil society in post-colonial Africa.