Browsing by Author "Gellar, Sheldon"

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The Art of Association in Senegal: Tocquevillian Analytics in an African Setting
(2002) Gellar, Sheldon
"Tocqueville underscored the strong connections between political and civil associations. When governments banned political associations and political life, they also discouraged citizens from organizing civil associations. The existence of associations depended on the right to create associations and the willingness of rulers and governments to recognize them. Their patterns of leadership and initiative, however, reflected the kind of society in which they functioned. In Senegal, the problem is not how to foster the art of association among Senegalese, but how the Senegalese can use and adapt their already considerable skills in the art of association to cope with economic scarcity and move forward in the transformation from aristocracy to democracy in such a manner as to preserve their traditional communitarian values."
Tocquevillian Analytics: A Tool For Understanding Democracy in Africa and the Non-Western World
(2004) Gellar, Sheldon
"Most social scientists see Tocqueville as a brilliant commentator on American political institutions and culture who captured the essence of American democracy. Others who know his writings on France, England, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland appreciate his interdisciplinary talents in history, sociology, comparative politics, and normative political theory. They see Democracy in America as an effort to understand the processes of democratization and its future in the western world. Although social scientists and democratic theorists often refer to the work of Alexis Tocqueville (1805-1859) in their analyses of American and European societies, they rarely apply his methodology and insights to the study of democracy in the non-western world. This paper argues that Tocqueville analytics as reflected in Tocqueville’s multilayered concept of democracy and the issues and concerns he raised are particularly important for understanding the movement towards democracy and the prospects for sustaining it in Africa and the non-western world."
Varieties of Religious Doctrines and Institutions in Africa and Their Impact on Democratization Processes
(2007) Gellar, Sheldon
"Three major religions prevail on the African continent today: African Traditional Religion(s), Islam, and Christianity. Rather than looking at these religions as homogeneous, exclusive, and self-contained systems and world views, this paper focuses on the heterogeneity and pluralism contained within these religions (Brenner, 2000, 144) and their potential for promoting or inhibiting the development of a democratic culture in Africa. It also looks at the evolution of political and religious institutions and ideational frameworks from the colonial period up to the end of the twentieth century."