Publisher's Synopsis
In this book, Sangmpam offers both a critique and an alternative view of the theory of the African state. Using Zaire as a representative of African and Third World countries, he argues that despite formal ædemocraticÆ trappings, competitive rule does not fundamentally differ from authoritarian rule; they are genetic twins or two sides of the same coin, sharing the same fundamental manifestations of an overpoliticized state. The latter differs from the capitalist/liberal democratic state of the West by its reliance on open political coercion. A theory of the state in Zaire is possible only by explaining overpoliticization itself and not authoritarianism or ædemocratizationÆ as separate categories. Rejecting the prevailing view that society in Zaire is dominated by capitalism, he argues that pseudocapitalism characterizes ZaireÆs society. A theory of the state is subordinated to an explanation of pseudocapitalism. Sangmpam shows that pseudocapitalism results from the ability of African precolonial societies to stifle capitalist implantation. Because the stifling of capitalism does not allow the kind of political compromise that characterizes politics in the capitalist societies of the West, pseudocapitalism is not conducive to a liberal democratic state; the result is the overpoliticized state. The study breaks new ground in defining the problem of and explaining the state-society relation in Africa.
