The Politics of Challenging Presidential Term Limits in Africa
‘Jack R. Mangala and the contributors to this volume are to be commended for providing nuanced understandings of the factors that influenced the success or failure of the efforts of some of Africa’s big men who tried to extend their tenures in office beyo
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The Politics of Challenging Presidential Term Limits in Africa
Jack R. Mangala Editor
The Politics of Challenging Presidential Term Limits in Africa
Editor Jack R. Mangala Grand Valley State University Wyoming, MI, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-40809-1 ISBN 978-3-030-40810-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
In the aftermath of the end of the Cold War, the vast majority of African presidential regimes adopted the constitutional rule limiting the number of terms their chief executives could serve in office. Among other political and institutional reforms initiated at that time, this cardinal rule of democratic governance was intended to create constitutionally binding constraints on the presidents in order to move the countries past the era of big men that had defined Cold War politics, and anchor them on the path to democracy. The adoption of term limits is generally credited with having contributed to an emerging political culture in which it is no longer acceptable for leaders to remain in power ad infinitum as had been the case decades earlier. The institution of presidential term limits has, however, been challenged by many African leaders since its inception. From Namibia’s San Nujoma in 1998 to Rwanda’s Paul Kagame in 2017, the institution of term limits has come under repeated onslaughts from African leaders convinced of their indispensability and seeking political immortality by subverting the constitution to suit their personal ambitions. The trajectory of the instituti
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