The Exclusive Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

Abstract

This book has investigated the Permanent Emergency Welfare Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa since colonial independence, highlighting the exclusive origins of dictatorship and democracy. By examining the key characteristics, strengths and shortcomings of these welfare regimes in transition, it has shown that while governments in the region have designed temporary measures to address urgent socio-economic problems, over time, as the difficulties have remained, the emergency institutions have become permanent structures, contributing to the reproduction of existing inequalities and to the creation of new ones. Hence, the main systemic problems and structural challenges that characterize the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have been highlighted (see Chapter 4), with the objective of finding possible future solutions.