Legacies of Power: Leadership, Change, and Former Presidents in African Politics by RogerSouthall; Henning MelberReview by: John W. HarbesonAfrica Today, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Spring, 2007), pp. 122-123Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4187800 .

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Roger Southall and Henning Melber, eds. 2006. LEGACIES OF POWER: LEADERSHIP, CHANGE, AND FORMER PRESIDENTS IN AFRICAN POLITICS. Uppsala, Sweden: Nordic Africa Institute. 350 pp. $24.95 (paper).

Legacies of Power is almost the first book-length examination of a routinely ignored but quite significant problem of contemporary politics: what role(s), if any, should former presidents or prime ministers play in the political life of their countries after they have left office or have been ousted from power? The British House of Lords is one of the few institutions in mature democracies that routinely provides formal political roles for former prime ministers after their days in the House of Commons are over. Elsewhere, only those with imagination and energy create post-head-of-government roles for themselves, most notably in the case of the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who established the world-renowned Carter Center, and Wil- liam Howard Taft, who became Chief Justice of the United States after he left the presidency.

Perhaps it is a waste of talent, energy, and experience that most former prominent presidents and prime ministers in mature democracies generally seem to fade into obscurity, but their presence rarely threatens political sta- bility. In contrast, for fragile postindependence African states, particularly those that have become democratized or partially democratized, former presidents, prime ministers, and dictators may loom large. In retirement, they may have roles that weaken or strengthen the state itself, as well as democratic transitions. Contrast the positive influences of Nelson Man- dela and Julius Nyerere with the corrupt networks of power left behind by Daniel arap Moi, that have bedeviled Kenya's troubled democratic transition. Residual loyalties to ousted presidents and ill-defined roles of presidents who leave office voluntarily complicate executive transitions in a conti- nent accustomed to rule by "big men." Also, uncertainties about how ex- presidents and their followings will comport themselves have a bearing on the problem of presidential term limits.

Legacies of Power considers the lessons of 204 presidents and prime ministers who left office in sub-Saharan African between 1960 and 2004, exactly 20 percent of whom left office voluntarily or as a result of electoral defeat. It offers three general observations concerning these transitions. First, hybrid constitutions, blending elements of presidential and parliamentary democracies, leave the roles of former leaders ambiguous and controversial, the former implying full retirement and the latter better accommodating former leaders seeking to return to power. The ambiguity creates tensions between incumbent and former leaders. Second, Legacies contends that lead- ers who leave office voluntarily enjoy greater latitude in seeking to fashion constructive political roles for themselves, while those who are ousted are more constrained. Third, Legacies seems to suggest that the interests of stability may need to take precedence over seeking justice for former rulers' misdeeds. Roger Southall and his colleagues argue that "whatever the desir- ability of subjecting brutal and corrupt dictators to criminal proceedings, the

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quickest and surest way to peace and stability may lie along the road, if not of forgiveness, then of bargained protection for the tyrant."

Legacies culls these observations from its case-study chapters, covering former presidents whose impacts on the politics of their countries and the continent have varied enormously, all controversial to varying degrees in one way or another, and none unqualifiedly positive. Julius Nyerere receives the best marks for encouraging democracy at home while supporting peacekeep- ing regionally during his postpresidency. Nelson Mandela's postpresidency receives good marks, his role viewed as "enormously constructive (but not always uncontroversial)," his success in conflict management elsewhere on the continent mixed. Charles Taylor receives the worst marks for his human- rights offenses and, as the book was written, a "poorly regulated exile," leav- ing him in a position potentially to wreak further havoc on Liberia and the region. Ketumile Masire receives a good review for his peacekeeping work, while Botswana's presidential transition processes have served mostly to "consolidate elite power." Robert Mugabe has already made himself indis- pensable, even before he leaves office, to those who have benefited from his patronage. Nigeria is unique in having many former heads of state, whose postpresidential roles are seen to have been impeded by continuing military influence. The chapters on Chiluba, Moi, Muluzi, Museveni, Nujoma, and Rawlings view the roles of these former presidents (or eventually former, in the case of Museveni) as highly problematic for the future of democracy and political stability in their respective countries.

Legacies is a careful, perceptive, broadly comparative inquiry into the quest for democracy and stability in Africa-a quest that is more important theoretically and empirically than has generally been recognized. Atypically for an edited volume, the chapters are uniformly insightful and thorough in marshalling existing evidence to bear on the problem of postpresidencies in African countries, many of them newly democratic and still weak states.

John W Harbeson City University of New York

Thomson, Alex. 2004. AN INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. 304 pp. $33.95 (paper).

Scholars of African politics face a multitude of problems in approaching the study of social diversity and political complexity. Africa's diversities and complexities constitute what Schraeder (2000) calls a "mosaic in transforma- tion." The continent's problems, of course, carry over to how we approach the teaching of the subject. The second edition of An Introduction to Afri- can Politics is a serious attempt to tackle these problems for students and instructors.

A difficulty that all authors of textbooks on African politics face is that, while common themes run through the studies they must accommo- date, the continent is extremely diverse. Thomson acknowledges this fact by

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