Julius E. Nyang'oro's edited volume, Discourses on Democracy: Africa in Comparative Perspective, makes debates about African democracy available to African students and scholars. In his introduction, the editor correctly points out that discussions about democracy in Africa take place largely in the universities and academic journals of Europe and North America, fora outside of Africa that rarely invite participation by the mass of Africans that are the subject of these discussions. Published by Dar es Salaam University Press, thus presumably widely available in the English-speaking university community in Africa, this volume helps fill the gap between African and Western scholarship and is likely to have a seminal effect on discussions of democracy, especially among young African scholars. A compilation of classic works about African democracy from the late 1980s and early 1990s, the volume serves as an introduction to the subject of African democratization valuable both to the "African University Students," to whom the volume is dedicated, as well as to First World scholars who will appreciate the breadth of the discussions included in this single volume.

There is no doubt that Discourses on Democracy is valuable as an introductory text, but that said, it is also important to point out that, in bringing together a wide range of opinion and observation, Nyang'oro neither synthesizes or prioritizes the arguments he presents, nor does he make any contribution to the "cutting edge" of scholarship. Scholars who are abreast of the most recent research on African politics will find nothing new here, although the volume's juxtaposition of theories and arguments may serve to reinvigorate old debates.

The most important contribution made by Discourses on Democracy is that it assembles in a single volume the whole range of the debate about democracy in Africa, from the liberal mainstream, to critiques of the currently dominant liberal paradigm. Authors such as Samir Amin, S. N. Sangmpam, Yusuf Bangura, and Ken Post point out the difficulties of instituting democracy at the same time as capitalist economic development is creating conditions of extreme inequality on both domestic and international economic fronts. These authors give pride of place to economic relationships in their analyses as they advance the notion of "popular" democracy in Africa. Other scholars, such as Richard Sandbrook, Michael Bratton, Naomi Chazan. and Daryl Glaser, by and large accept the vicissitudes of capitalism in Africa's democratic equation, while they concentrate their analyses on issues of individual rights, legal frameworks, and political process associated with "liberal" definitions of democracy. In his introduction, Nyang'oro draws on the work of Issa Shivji to describe these two poles of scholarship and effectively uses the tension between "popular" and "liberal" authors to enhance the debate.

The inclusion of the "African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation," as well as the work of Ken Post, who, in Nyang'oro's own words is "one of the few remaining diehards who see no prospects for democratic development on the continent under the guidance of capitalism," suggest that Nyang'oro is more intent on establishing the limits of debate in terms of "popular" democracy than he is on communicating the dominant liberal position. Indeed, if the volume lacks any important point of view, it is probably that of a die-hard liberal-capitalist. Daryl Glaser's emphasis on the importance of individual rights for democracy is as far as Nyang'oro permits the debate to go in the liberal direction. However, considering the reality of political and economic conditionalities enforced by international finance in Africa, it is likely that Nyang'oro's principal audience (the African intellectual) is already all too familiar with unrepentant liberal-capitalist ideology.

Nyang'oro also includes several articles that lie outside the popular vs. liberal theoretical framework. Richard Sklar's contribution, the oldest piece in the volume, provides a historical backdrop to discussions of African democracy in the 1990s and serves to remind readers that it was not long ago that scholars were calling for researchers to take up the topic of democracy in Africa. In 1987, when Sklar's piece was first published, his was a lonely voice, but only a few years later, his perspective appeared prescient, a testimony to the enduring appeal of democracy in Africa and the multiple research agendas available to students of democracy.

George Sorensen's contribution concerning the role of the state in economic development is certainly liberal in terms of theoretical assumptions, but his use of examples from the Far East serves to critique the application of liberal economic theory in Africa. Another article which does not fit neatly into the popular vs. liberal framework is the piece by anthropologist Maxwell Owusu. Perhaps reflecting his disciplinary roots, Owusu focuses his analysis at the grassroots of politics suggesting African democratization should be linked to the practices of direct democracy that are commonly found in village level governance throughout Africa.

Because it touches upon so many aspects of the democratic debate, Discourses in Democracy is a welcome addition to the African democratization literature. Let us hope that this important summary of a critical topic will be made widely available to its intended audience.

Dan Ottemoeller
Department of Political Science
University of Florida