Education in Africa 
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| Title: | The roles of higher education in the democratization of politics in Africa: survey reports from HERANA |
| Authors: | Mattes, Robert Luescher-Mamashela, Thierry M. |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Higher Education in Africa (ISSN 0851-7762) |
| Volume: | 10 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Pages: | 139-170 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Subsaharan Africa |
| Subjects: | higher education citizenship democracy |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/jhigheducafri.10.1.139 |
| Abstract: | Based on theory on the nexus between higher education and citizenship, this article analyses three related studies on African mass publics, parliamentarians, and students from three African universities (the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in Tanzania, the University of Nairobi (UON) in Kenya, and the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa), conducted by the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA). The article shows that higher education provides advantages for 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 organizational leadership experience while at university. In light of these findings, the article suggests that higher education can play a crucial role in the democratization of politics in Africa by developing 'institution-builders' for the State and civil society. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. [Journal abstract] |
