Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2012): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

7 - The Roles of Higher Education in the Democratization of Politics in Africa: Survey Reports from HERANA

https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v10i1.1567
Robert Mattes
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0567-9385
Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6675-0512

Corresponding Author(s) : Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela

thierryluescher@hotmail.com

Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Vol. 10 No. 1 (2012): Journal of Higher Education in Africa

Abstract

Against the theory on the nexus of higher education and citizenship, this article brings together the main findings and conclusions of three related studies with African mass publics, parliamentarians from African legisla- tures, and students from three African flagship universities, conducted by the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA). The article shows that higher education provides advantages in various measures of 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 mul- tiple 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 ex- tensive organisational leadership experience while at university. In light of this, the article suggests that higher education can play a crucial role in the democratisation of politics in Africa by developing “institution-builders” for state and civil society.

Keywords

democratisation citizenship aggregate
Robert Mattes, & Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela. (2012). 7 - The Roles of Higher Education in the Democratization of Politics in Africa: Survey Reports from HERANA. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 10(1), pp.139–170. https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v10i1.1567
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Author Biographies

Robert Mattes

Born and educated in the United States, I spent 25 years researching and teaching in South Africa, before moving to Strathclyde in 2016.  My research focuses on issues and challenges of sustaining democracy, by studying voting, public opinion, and elected legislatures, in the developing world in general, and Africa and  South Africa in particular.

Thierry M. Luescher-Mamashela

is an experienced higher education specialist conducting research, postgraduate training and mentorship and publishing in South Africa. My core research expertise is in critical studies in higher education transformation; with particular focus on higher education policy, politics and governance; university development in Africa; student politics, student movements, the student experience, and student affairs. My core teaching is supervision and mentorship of postgraduate students and early career researchers. The South African National Research Foundation has awarded me in 2018 a research rating inter alia in acknowledgement of my status as ‘currently the most published researcher internationally on student politics in Africa’.

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