Political Theory and Classical Modern Political Thought in the Ugandan Context: A Systematic Literature Review

This systematic literature review looks at how political theory and classical modern political thought are understood, interpreted, and contested in Ugandan political discussions and academic fields. It is based on 165 unique scholarly sources found through thorough database searches and a close study of the 30 most relevant papers. The review shows that political theory in Uganda is a complex area of ideological conflict, not a settled agreement. The evidence indicates that classical modern political thought, especially liberal, republican, and Marxist ideas, has been selectively used, critically reinterpreted, and strategically applied by Ugandan scholars, nationalists, and political figures since the colonial era. Key findings include: (1) Makerere University was the main institution for sharing and altering Western political theory between 1949 and 1968. It created a dominant curriculum that shaped elite political views; (2) nationalist leaders approached classical modern concepts through selective use and postcolonial rethinking, rather than full adoption; (3) current Ugandan political discussions involve active conflicts among liberal, Marxist, post-colonial, and hybrid regime theories. Each theory is used to support different ideas about governance, development, and sovereignty; and (4) while the involvement of elites and academics with political theory is well recorded, evidence about how the wider society understands it is still limited. This review helps us understand how political theory is shared, changed, and contested in postcolonial African settings.

Political theory; classical modern political thought; postcolonial political discourse

1. Kaweesi. "Hegemonic: the trajectory of political theory at Makerere University College, 1949–1968." [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Doren. "Finance Capital in Uganda: A Collision of Perspectives of Marxism and Capitalism." [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. [3] Mazrui. "Political theory and national involvement in East Africa." [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Wasike. "Land and Power: A Critical Examination of the Political Economy, Justice, and Epistemological Perspectives on Uganda's Land Question." International Journal of Innovative Research in Engineering & Multidisciplinary Physical Sciences, 2025. https://doi.org/10.37082/ijirmps.v13.i4.232700 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Banjwa. "Colonial Power and Nationalists' Postcolonial Political Imagination in Uganda: IK Musazi, Eridadi Mulira and Abu Mayanja." [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Andersson et al. "Good Governance: En utvecklingsagenda i Världsbankens regi," 2005. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Shaw et al. "Two Ugandas and a 'Liberal Peace'? Lessons from Uganda about Conflict and Development at the Start of a New Century." Global Society, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600820701562801 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Summers. "Learning leadership? Elite Ugandan students and late colonial politics." Africa, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972018000943 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Carbone. No-Party Democracy?: Ugandan Politics in Comparative Perspective, 2008. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Carbone. No-Party Democracy?: Ugandan Politics in Comparative Perspective. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.46-4659 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Moore et al. "Debating Sex and Sovereignty: Uganda's New National Sexuality Education Policy." Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/S13178-021-00584-9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Vorhölter. "Negotiating social change: Ugandan discourses on westernisation and neo-colonialism as forms of social critique." Journal of Modern African Studies, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X12000055 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Carbone. "No-party democracy? Political organisation under movement democracy in Uganda, 1994-2000," 2001. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Kagoro. "Competitive authoritarianism in Uganda: the not so hidden hand of the military," 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-09216-0_9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Golooba-Mutebi et al. "The master of institutional multiplicity? The shifting politics of regime survival, state-building and democratisation in Museveni's Uganda." Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2016.1278322 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Tripp. Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime, 2010. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Karlstrom. "Imagining democracy: political culture and democratisation in Buganda." Africa, 1996. https://doi.org/10.2307/1160933 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Tripp. Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.48-3528 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Mawere et al. "Contrasting Leadership Paradigms: The Clash Between Indigenous African Leadership Systems and Eurocentric Democratic Governance in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda." African Journal of Governance and Development, 2024. https://doi.org/10.36369/2616-9045/2024/v13i2a4 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. El-Malik et al. "Special Issue: African political thought of the twentieth century: a reengagement." African Identities, 2015. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Metz. "Political Philosophy in the Global South," 2023. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003143529-32 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Wilkins et al. "Transition, transformation, and the politics of the future in Uganda." Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2023.2236848 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Eze. "Menkiti, Gyekye and Beyond: Towards A Decolonisation of African Political Philosophy," 2018. https://doi.org/10.4314/FT.V7I2.1 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Tom. "A 'post-liberal peace' via Ubuntu?" 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/21647259.2015.1040605 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Banjwa. "The making (and unmaking) of Uganda's ethnic-based decentralisation programme," 2022. https://doi.org/10.35188/unu-wider/2022/300-0 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Singh. "Beyond the nation: global democratisation in Uganda and the politics of dispensation." Third World Quarterly, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2016.1159126 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Ssali. "Ethnicity and federalism in Uganda: grassroots perceptions," 2017. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Golooba-Mutebi et al. "Investigating the links between political settlements and inclusive development in Uganda: towards a research agenda." Social Science Research Network, 2013. https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2386684 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. King et al. "Beyond elite bargains: building democracy from below in Uganda." Research Papers in Economics, 2015. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Byekwaso. "The Politics of Modernisation and the Misleading Approaches to Development." World Review of Political Economy, 2016. https://doi.org/10.13169/WORLREVIPOLIECON.7.2.0 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• The Impact of Ownership Structure on Dividend Payout Policy of Listed Plantation Companies in Sri Lanka
• Urban Sustainability in North-East India: A Study through the lens of NER-SDG index
• Performance Assessment of Predictive Forecasting Techniques for Enhancing Hospital Supply Chain Efficiency in Healthcare Logistics
• The Fractured Self in Julian Barnes' Postmodern Fiction: Identity Crisis and Deflation in Metroland and the Sense of an Ending
• Impact of Flood on the Employment, Labour Productivity and Migration of Agricultural Labour in North Bihar