To celebrate the re-launch of DiA, we are delighted to share with you Professor Nic Cheeseman’s inaugural lecture at the University of Birmingham. The lecture, given the same day as our revamp, symbolically signals his entry into the professoriate at the University of Birmingham, but also summarises his work on election rigging and celebrates the contribution of this DiA.
To see Nic’s analysis for DiA, click here.
Great lecture! I agree with you on the mistake of looking at African leaders as mere individuals in the great game, thus bearing the responsibility of bad government alone. I have always thought that dictators are not the real issue in African politics, but rather, the environment in which they operate. Dictators are often victims themselves and therefore see retaining power as the ultimate insurance policy against harm to themselves and their families. It therefore begs the question: how does one change the political dynamics on the ground, in order to offer an ‘even playing field’ a fair chance – to bolster representative democracy in Africa?