All-powerful presidents are an essential part of a stereotypical representation of African politics controlled by a few individuals, rather than by institutions. This view has been reinforced by a literary tradition sanctifying the biographies of "great men" while demonising more troubled political figures.
The academic discourse has for a long time reproduced these stereotypical biases. To paraphrase the political scientists Robert H. Jackson and Carl G. Roseberg, African politics is interpreted as the playground of a few prophets, tyrants and princes.
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