The roles of higher education in the democratization of politics in Africa: survey reports from HERANA

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dc.contributor.authorMattes, Robert
dc.contributor.authorLuescher-Mamashela, Thierry
dc.date.accessioned2014-01-07T21:22:09Z
dc.date.available2014-01-07T21:22:09Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractAgainst the theory on the nexus of higher education and citizenship, this article brings together the main findings and conclusions of three related studies with African mass publics, parliamentarians from African legislatures, and students from three African flagship universities, conducted by the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA). The article shows that higher education provides advantages in various measures of democratic citizenship and leadership. It plays important roles with regard to access to political information, information gathering skills, and levels of political knowledge; the ability to offer opinions and critical perspectives on politics and the economy; and levels of democratic values and democratic action. Moreover, university-educated MPs seem to make much better sense of the unique complexities of legislatures and their multiple competing functions than their less educated peers. This might reflect the knowledge and analytic skills acquired through higher education, the fact that universities are themselves highly complex institutions that they needed to negotiate as students, and the finding that students acquire extensive organisational leadership experience while at university. In light of this, the article suggests that higher education can play a crucial role in the democratisation of politics in Africa by developing “institution-builders” for state and civil society.en_US
dc.description.accreditationDepartment of HE and Training approved listen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWe would like to acknowledge the support of the US Partnership for Higher Education in Africa - in particular the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Kresge Foundation – which contributed funding and expertise for the HERANA studies. We are also grateful to the Afrobarometer for availing data and certain research instruments to the researchers of the studies on which this article is based.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMattes, R. & Luescher-Mamashela, T.M. (2012). The roles of higher education in the democratization of politics in Africa: survey reports from HERANA. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 10(1): 139–170en_US
dc.identifier.issn0851-7762
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/921
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.privacy.showsubmitterfalse
dc.publisherCODESRIAen_US
dc.rightsCopyright CODESRIA. This file may be freely used provided that the source is acknowledged. No commercial distribution of this text is permitted.
dc.status.ispeerreviewedtrue
dc.subjectHigher educationen_US
dc.subjectDemocracyen_US
dc.subjectCitizenshipen_US
dc.subjectPoliticsen_US
dc.titleThe roles of higher education in the democratization of politics in Africa: survey reports from HERANAen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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