Download or read book Democracy in Senegal written by S. Gellar and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-09-16 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing an in-depth comparative study of democracy formation, Gellar traces Senegal's movement from a pre-colonial aristocratic order towards a modern democratic political order. Inspired by Tocqueville's methodology, he identifies social equality, ethnic and religious tolerance, popular participation in local affairs, and freedom of association and the press as vital components of any democratic system. He shows how centralized state structures and monopoly of political power stifled local initiative and perpetuated neo-patrimonial modes of governance.