Includes bibliographical references and index.

Case selection -- Zimbabwe -- Swaziland -- Algeria -- Ethiopia -- Burkina Faso -- South Africa -- Uganda -- Mauritius -- Conclusion and outlook.

"The African Union (AU), a continental organization that comprises every African state except Morocco, is a pioneering undertaking. Its ambitious aim is to integrate all member states, with the ultimate goal of forming the United States of Africa. Despite several attempts to build a union, the AU has remained an intergovernmental organization, with one reason being a perceived unwillingness of the AU states to pool their national sovereignties. This study seeks to comprehend why Africa's integration process has not moved toward a supranational organization, using a novel approach. It shifts the usual perspective away from the organization level and provides the first comprehensive and systematic analysis of the AU from the perspective of the states themselves"--Page 4 of cover.