Concepts That Shape Politics and Government In Cameroon: A Handbook of Political Theory for Stakeholders

In this book, the reader is introduced to the concepts of politics, government, political theory and political culture with reference to Cameroon. Defined as human activity concerned with controversies over public questions and the resolution of those controversies, politics is concerned with the affairs of government and because government action deeply affects us, we take a lively interest in what governments do. We form associations and organize campaigns to articulate our demands. We negotiate with others and try to shape the goals that governments pursue. When we disagree with the policies of the government, we protest and organize demonstration to persuade our governments to change the existing laws. We passionately debate the actions of our representatives. In this way we look for the rationale underlying the prevalent chaos and decay, and aspire to create a better world. To sum up, politics arises from the fact that we have different visions of what is just and desirable for us and our society. Politics exist because we possess reason and the ability to reflect on government actions and communicate our innermost thoughts and desires with each other. Political theory has its roots in these twin aspects of the human being. Defined as a network of concepts and generalizations about political life involving ideas, assumptions and statements about the nature, purpose and key features of government Political theory systematically thinks about the values that inform political life - values such as freedom, equality, justice, nationalism, secularism, development etc. It explains the meanings and significance of these and other related concepts by focusing on some major political thinkers, theologians, kings, economists, sociologists, popes etc of the past and present. It also examines the extent to which freedom or equality are actually present in the institutions that we participate in everyday such as schools, sh