Bachelor
2021/2022
Federalism & Decentralization: Evaluating Africa's Track Record
Type:
Elective course (Asian and African Studies)
Area of studies:
Asian and African Studies
Delivered by:
School of Asian Studies
When:
5 year, 1 module
Mode of studies:
distance learning
Online hours:
24
Open to:
everyone
Instructors:
Andrey Zeltyn
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
4
Contact hours:
4
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The aim of the course «Federalism and Decentralisation: Assessing the achivements of Africa» is to have students get a general overview of both federalism and decentralization, we will examine a number of case-studies from Africa where federalism and decentralization have been changing the continent’s political landscape in the last twenty years, coinciding with unprecedented levels of economic growth. The learning format includes the online-course at the base of Coursera platform (URL: (https://www.coursera.org/learn/decentralization-africa).
Learning Objectives
- To understand the twin concepts of federalism and decentralization, what is federalism and how is it different from decentralization
- To understand what are the core ideas behind these concepts
- To grasp how federalism and decentralization have been changing the continent’s political landscape in the last twenty years, coinciding with unprecedented levels of economic growth
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Discussion of the various legal, political and social foundations of federalism and decentralization.
- Explain the definition of important concepts, such as general rule and self-regulation, autonomy, multiple identifiers, and distributed authority.
- Overview and fundamental understanding of the concepts of federalism and decentralization in Africa
- Students should analyze the related but different dynamics decentralization presents. In particular, the focus will be on the economic implications of decentralization on Africa. We will cover various perspectives that highlight state capacity, international factors, design of decentralized institutions, unintended long-term consequences, and uncodified home-grown practices of local governance.
- The focus will be on three case studies to acquire insight into how federalism and decentralization work in practice: Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia
- To bring the knowledge and insights from previous modules together. The notion of state capacity will be unpacked into political, administrative, infrastructural, and economic components. There is a need also to evaluate the relative importance of international know-how and local traditions.
Course Contents
- Introduction
- Theme 1. The Three Promises of Federalism and Decentralization
- Theme 2. Core Ideas in Federalism and Decentralization
- Theme 3. The Building Blocks of Federalism and Decentralization
- Theme 4. Federalism in Post- Conflict Societies
- Theme 5. Decentralization, Democracy and Economic Development
- Theme 6. Critical Issues in Federalism and Decentralization
- final lesson
Assessment Elements
- A testing after one week (10 min.)
- A testing after one week (10 min.)
- A testing after one week (10 min.)
- A testing after one week (10 min.)
- A testing after one week (10 min.)
- A testing after one week (10 min.)
Interim Assessment
- 2021/2022 1st module0.165 * A testing after one week (10 min.) + 0.165 * A testing after one week (10 min.) + 0.165 * A testing after one week (10 min.) + 0.17 * A testing after one week (10 min.) + 0.17 * A testing after one week (10 min.) + 0.165 * A testing after one week (10 min.)
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Ali, O. H. (2018). Teaching Africa in World History: Painting Scenes, Performing Stories, Creating Conversations. Sixteenth Century Journal, 49(2), 458–463. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=30h&AN=132761213
- Atieno, Christine, and Colin Robinson, eds. Post-conflict Security, Peace and Development: Perspectives from Africa, Latin America, Europe and New Zealand. Vol. 13. Springer, 2018.
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Irogbe, K. (2014). The Effects of Globalization in Latin America, Africa, and Asia : A Global South Perspective. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=777929