OLIGARCHY AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: A CRITIQUE TO WINTERS AND PAGE

Abstract

Jeffrey Winters and Benjamin Page argued that oligarchy is not inconsistent with democracy. For them, oligarchy co-exists with democracy in the United States. A very small group of the wealthiest Americans, they say, exert vastly greater political influence and wield sufficient power that dominates major government policies than average citizens. They see minor policy environment where the oligarchs do not have vested interests as domain for democracy. They therefore, erroneously concluded that oligarchy and democracy comfortably co-exist. This paper uses political process in Africa to critique these assertions. The study argues that yes, oligarchy exists in the US but it is incompatible with democracy and they cannot co-exist. Oligarchy is a major challenge facing democratization in capitalist societies. Winters and Pages assertions are deceptive, fallacious and blindfolding. Such assertions are grand design to justify and promote the co-existence of oligarchy and democratization across the world. They are capitalist intents targeted at providing conducive environment for oligarchy in democratizing societies. Oligarchy in the United States is an inference that democracy does not exist in capitalist states. Rather, democratization exists and it is threatened by oligarchic activities in various nations. African version is threatened by the absence of indigenous foundation and oligarchic prototype of alien origin. The study relies on published works for data. It adopts elite theory of power and Marxist theory of class struggle for explanation. Findings identify oligarchy as a major factor undermining democratization in Africa and there is western blindfolding motive to justify it.