Pan-Africanism and African Governments Claude Ake T HE last decade has seen the proliferation of organizations and institutions which have broadened the scope of social communication between African peoples.* The sophistica- tion of a broad African perspective, which tended to be a mo- nopoly of top-level leadership, is now permeating the lower strata of African society.

 THE FUTURE OF THE STATE IN AFRICA CLAUDE AKE The state is a specific modality of class domination, a generic phenomenon in capitalist and socialist formations. The unique feature of the socioeconomic formations in postcolonial Africa is that the state, if we can properly talk of such an existence at all, has very limited autonomy.

 The African Context of Human Rights Claude Ake Nobody can accuse Africa of taking human rights seriously. In a world which sees concern for human rights as a mark of civilized sensitivity, this in- difference has given Africa a bad name. It is not unlikely that many consider it symptomatic of the rawness of life which has always been associated with Africa.

 The unique case of African democracy CLAUDE AKE Claude Ake considers the unique features of African democracy. He explains why its development must stem from the ordinary people of Africa and from their concept of participation. Africa's long neglected democracy movement is now enjoying unprecedented support at home and abroad.