Of the latter, 10 achieved the top rating of free, a conclusion close to ratings by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).9 A more bullish reading drawn again from multiple sources is that over 60% of people in sub-Saharan Africa live in free or partly free countries, a situation that enabled a Brookings Institution study to conclude that the region [is] moving in fits and starts towards greater democratic consolidation.10 Countries absent from the apparent democratic wave missed its beginnings in the early and mid-1990s, became caught up in protracted or recurrent civil conflicts, or degenerated as a result of electoral violence or big men patrimonialism. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). African states are by no means homogeneous in terms of governance standards: as the Mo Ibrahim index based on 14 governance categories reported in 2015, some 70 points on a scale of 100 separated the best and worst performers.16. Africas states are the worlds newest, and it can hardly be surprising that Africans define themselves in terms of multiple identities including regional, tribal, clan-based, and religious onesin addition to being citizens of a relatively new state. African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. Government, Public Policy Performance, Types of Government. Traditional institutions have continued to metamorphose under the postcolonial state, as Africas socioeconomic systems continue to evolve. As Mamdani has argued, understanding the role of traditional leadership and customary law in contemporary African societies requires us to understand its history. Rather, they are conveners of assemblies of elders or lower level chiefs who deliberate on settlement of disputes. However, the system of traditional government varied from place to place. Poor statesociety relations and weak state legitimacy: Another critical outcome of institutional fragmentation and institutional detachment of the state from the overwhelming majority of the population is weak legitimacy of the state (Englebert, 2000). In this respect, they complement official courts that are often unable to provide court services to all their rural communities. This article contends that postcolonial African traditional institutions lie in a continuum between the highly decentralized to the centralized systems and they all have resource allocation practices, conflict resolution and judicial systems, and decision-making practices, which are distinct from those of the state. Some regimes seem resilient because of their apparent staying power but actually have a narrow base of (typically ethnic or regional) support. This outline leads us to examine more closely the sources of legitimacy in African governance systems. By the mid-1970s, the military held power in one-third of the nations of sub-Saharan Africa. Traditional leadership in South Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems of governance and was the main known system of governance amongst indigenous people. However, their endurance, along with that of traditional economic systems, have fostered institutional fragmentation, which has serious adverse effects on Africas governance and economic development. The geography of South Africa is vast scrubland in the interior, the Namib Desert in the northwest, and tropics in the southeast. Most of the regions states were defined geographically by European cartographers at the start of the colonial period. Strictly speaking, Ghana was the title of the King, but the Arabs, who left records . In Africa, as in every region, it is the quality and characteristics of governance that shape the level of peace and stability and the prospects for economic development. 1.4. . Space opened up for African citizens and civil society movements, while incumbent regimes were no longer able to rely on assured support from erstwhile external partners. Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. The analysis presented here suggests that traditional institutions are relevant in a number of areas while they are indispensable for the governance of Africas traditional economic sector, which lies on the fringes of formal state institutions. Most African countries are characterized by parallel institutions, one representing the formal laws of the state and the other representing the traditional institutions that are adhered to more commonly in rural areas. The Aqils (elders) of Somalia and the chiefs in Kenya are good examples. It assigned them new roles while stripping away some of their traditional roles. Large segments of the rural populations, the overwhelming majority in most African countries, continue to adhere principally to traditional institutions. Obstruction of nation-building: Nation-building entails a process of integrating different segments of the citizenry to form a community of citizens under shared institutions. While this attribute of the traditional system may not be practical at the national level, it can be viable at local levels and help promote democratic values. You cant impose middle class values on a pre-industrial society.13. 79 (3), (1995) pp. The movement towards a formal state system is characterized by its emphasis on retribution and punishment. Fitzpatrick 'Traditionalism and Traditional Law' Journal of African Law, Vol. One common feature is recognition of customary property rights laws, especially that of land. Recent developments add further complications to the region: (a) the collapse of Libya after 2011, spreading large quantities of arms and trained fighters across the broader Sahel region; (b) the gradual toll of desertification placing severe pressure on traditional herder/farmer relationships in places like Sudan and Nigeria; and, (c) the proliferation of local IS or Al Qaeda franchises in remote, under-governed spaces. Yet political stability cannot be based on state power alone, except in the short run. However, at the lower level of the hierarchy of the centralized system, the difference between the centralized and decentralized systems tends to narrow notably. In addition to these measures, reconciling fragmented institutions would be more successful when governments invest more resources in transforming the traditional socioeconomic space. The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. While empirical data are rather scanty, indications are that the traditional judicial system serves the overwhelming majority of rural communities (Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). Building an inclusive political system also raises the question of what levels of the society to include and how to assure that local communities as well as groups operating at the national level can get their voices heard. Some trust traditional leaders more than they trust state authorities. Throughout our over one-hundred-year history, our work has directly led to policies that have produced greater freedom, democracy, and opportunity in the United States and the world. At the same time, traditional institutions represent institutional fragmentation, which has detrimental effects on Africas governance and economic transformation. Unfortunately, transforming the traditional sector is not an easy undertaking and cannot be achieved in a reasonably short time. More frequently, this form of rule operates at the sub-state level as in the case of the emir of Kano or the Sultan of Sokoto in Nigeria or the former royal establishments of the Baganda (Uganda) or the Ashanti (Ghana). Greater access to public services and to productivity-enhancing technology would also help in enhancing the transformation of the subsistence sector. The leaders, their families and allies are exempt. Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its countries. These include macro variables such as educational access (especially for women), climate change impact and mitigation, development and income growth rates, demographic trends, internet access, urbanization rates, and conflict events. For example, the election day itself goes more or less peacefully, the vote tabulation process is opaque or obscure, and the entire process is shaped by a pre-election playing field skewed decisively in favor of the incumbents. Judicial marginalization: Another challenge posed by institutional fragmentation relates to marginalization of the traditional system within the formal legal system. Certain offences were regarded as serious offences. Thus, another report by PRIO and the University of Uppsala (two Norwegian and Swedish centers) breaks conflict down into state-based (where at least one party is a government), non-state-based (neither party is an official state actor), and one-sided conflicts (an armed faction against unarmed civilians). This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in. 3. African governance trends were transformed by the geopolitical changes that came with the end of the Cold War. Such a consensus-building mechanism can help resolve many of the conflicts related to diversity management and nation-building. It seems clear that Africas conflict burden declined steadily after the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s owing to successful peace processes outstripping the outbreak of new conflicts; but the burden has been spiking up again since then. This study notes that in 2007 Africa saw 12 conflicts in 10 countries. The roles that traditional authorities can play in the process of good governance can broadly be separated into three categories: first, their advisory role to government, as well as their participatory role in the administration of regions and districts; second, their developmental role, complementing government?s efforts in mobilizing the . Traditional affairs. Institutions represent an enduring collection of formal laws and informal rules, customs, codes of conduct, and organized practices that shape human behavior and interaction. 134-141. For example, is it more effective to negotiate a power-sharing pact among key parties and social groups (as in Kenya) or is there possible merit in a periodic national dialogue to address issues that risk triggering conflict? 17-19 1.6. Others choose the traditional institutions, for example, in settling disputes because of lower transactional costs. Impact of Historical Origins of African State System2. Governance also has an important regional dimension relating to the institutional structures and norms that guide a regions approach to challenges and that help shape its political culture.1 This is especially relevant in looking at Africas place in the emerging world since this large region consists of 54 statesclose to 25% of the U.N.s membershipand includes the largest number of landlocked states of any region, factors that dramatically affect the political environment in which leaders make choices. This process becomes difficult when citizens are divided into parallel socioeconomic spaces with different judicial systems, property rights laws, and resource allocation mechanisms, which often may conflict with each other. It is too soon to tell whether such institutions can evolve in modern Africa as a result of gradual tinkering with reformist agendas, as the legacy of wise leaders; or whether they will only happen as a result of fundamental tests of strength between social and political groups. The swing against western norms was captured in an interview with Ugandas repeatedly re-elected president Yoweri Museveni who remarked How can you have structural adjustment without electricity? A second attribute is the participatory decision-making system. 28, (1984) pp. General Overviews. There is also the question of inclusion of specific demographic cohorts: women, youth, and migrants from rural to urban areas (including migrant women) all face issues of exclusion that can have an impact on conflict and governance. Countries such as Burkina Faso, Guinea, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, for example, attempted to strip chiefs of most of their authority or even abolish chieftaincy altogether. Music is a form of communication and it plays a functional role in African society . In the postcolonial era, their roles changed again. Admittedly, the problem is by no means uniquely African, but it is very commonly experienced in Africa. Different property rights laws are a notable source of conflict in many African countries. They are the key players in providing judicial service and in conflict management in much of rural Africa. Among the attributes of the traditional system with such potential is the systems transparent and participatory process of resolving conflicts, which takes place in open public meetings. African traditional institutions continue to exist in most African countries, albeit at different levels of adherence by the populations of the continent. The jury is still out on the merits of this practice. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. The modern African state system has been gradually Africanized, albeit on more or less the identical territorial basis it began with at the time of decolonization in the second half of the 20th century. This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. Challenges confronting the institution of chieftaincy have continued from the colonial era into recent times. They succeed when there are political conditions that permit a broad coalition to impose pluralist political institutions and limits and restraints on ruling elites.20 Thus, resilience of both state and society may hinge in the end on the rule of law replacing the rule of men. The third section deals with the post-colonial period and discusses some problems associated with African administration. Chieftaincy is further plagued with its own internal problems, including issues of relevance, succession, patriarchy, jurisdiction, corruption and intra-tribal conflict. The third section looks at the critical role of political and economic inclusion in shaping peace and stability and points to some of the primary challenges leaders face in deciding how to manage inclusion: whom to include and how to pay for it. Africa contains more sovereign nations than any other continent, with 54 countries compared to Asia's 47. Cookie Settings. However, three countries, Botswana, Somaliland, and South Africa, have undertaken differing measures with varying levels of success. They also serve as guardians and symbols of cultural values and practices. The same technology vectors can also empower criminal, trafficking, and terrorist networks, all of which pose threats to state sovereignty. Relatively unfettered access to the internet via smart phones and laptops brings informationand hence potential powerto individuals and groups about all kinds of things: e.g., market prices, the views of relatives in the diaspora, conditions in the country next door, and the self-enrichment of corrupt officials. Suggested Citation, 33 West 60th StreetNew York, NY 10023United States, Public International Law: Sources eJournal, Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic, Political Institutions: Parties, Interest Groups & Other Political Organizations eJournal, Political Institutions: Legislatures eJournal, We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. The modern African state system has been gradually Africanized, albeit on more or less the identical territorial basis it began with at the time of decolonization in the second half of the 20 th century. One can identify five bases of regime legitimacy in the African context today. A look at the economic systems of the adherents of the two institutional systems also gives a good indication of the relations between economic and institutional systems. At times, devolution has had major fiscal and governance consequences, including serving as a vehicle for co-option and corruption. First, many of the conflicts enumerated take place within a limited number of conflict-affected countries and in clearly-defined geographic zones (the Sahel and Nigeria; Central Africa; and the Horn.) Key Takeaways. Such chiefs also have rather limited powers. Judicial Administration. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. 1995 focuses on social, economic, and intellectual trends up to the end of the colonial era. There are also various arguments in the literature against traditional institutions.2 One argument is that chieftaincy impedes the pace of development as it reduces the relevance of the state in the area of social services (Tom Mboya in Osaghae, 1989). The size and intensity of adherence to the traditional economic and institutional systems, however, vary from country to country. Competing land rights laws, for instance, often lead to appropriations by the state of land customarily held by communities, triggering various land-related conflicts in much of Africa, especially in areas where population growth and environmental degradation have led to land scarcity. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. Large states and those with complex ethnic and geographic featurese.g., the DRC, Nigeria, Uganda, the Sudans, Ethiopiamay be especially prone to such multi-sourced violence. Another basic question is, whom to include? THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN CUSTOMARY LAW, Fenrich, Galizzi, Higgins, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2011, Available at SSRN: If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday. African Governance: Challenges and Their Implications. Based on existing evidence, the authority systems in postcolonial Africa lie in a continuum between two polar points. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. They are well known, among others, for their advancement of an indigenous democratic process known as Gadaa. In direct contrast is the second model: statist, performance-based legitimacy, measured typically in terms of economic growth and domestic stability as well as government-provided servicesthe legitimacy claimed by leaders in Uganda and Rwanda, among others. Poor gender relations: Traditional institutions share some common weaknesses. Tribes had relatively little power outside their own group during the colonial period. Problems and Purpose. In light of this discussion of types of inclusion, the implications for dealing with state fragility and building greater resilience can now be spelled out. How these differences in leadership structures impinge on the broader institutions of resources allocation patterns, judicial systems, and decision-making and conflict resolution mechanisms is still understudied. Ehret 2002 emphasizes the diversity and long history of precolonial social and political formations, whereas Curtin, et al. The Obas and Caliphs of Nigeria and the Zulu of South Africa are other examples. The long-term, global pushback by the leading authoritarian powers against liberal governance norms has consequences in Africa and other regions as governments directly act to close the space for civil society to operate. Cold War geopolitics reinforced in some ways the state-society gap as the global rivalry tended to favor African incumbents and frequently assured they would receive significant assistance from external powers seeking to build diplomatic ties with the new states. Another category of chiefs is those who theoretically are subject to selection by the community. In general, decentralized political systems, which are often elder-based with group leadership, have received little attention, even though these systems are widespread and have the institutions of judicial systems and mechanisms of conflict resolution and allocation of resources, like the institutions of the centralized systems. As noted, African countries have experienced the rise of the modern (capitalist) economic system along with its corresponding institutional systems. Regional governance comes into play here, and certain precedents may get set and then ratified by regional or sub-regional organizations. Democratic and dictatorial regimes both vest their authority in one person or a few individuals. As a result, customary law, which often is not recognized by the state or is recognized only when it does not contradict the constitution, does not protect communities from possible transgressions by the state. Unfortunately, little attention by African governments has been given to this paradoxical aspect of traditional institutions. The guiding principle behind these two attributes is that conflict is a societal problem and that resolving conflict requires societal engagement. Ten years later, in 2017, the number of conflicts was 18, taking place in 13 different countries. Hoover scholars form the Institutions core and create breakthrough ideas aligned with our mission and ideals. Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. Even old-fashioned tyrants learn that inclusion or co-option are expensive. Most of the states that had attempted to abolish chieftaincy have retracted the abolitionist decrees and reinstated chiefs. Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. Chiefs such as those of the Nuer and Dinka are examples of this category. not because of, the unique features of US democracy . The government is undertaking a review of local government, which includes a commitment to introduce direct election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs). Even so, customary law still exerts a strong . Chief among them is that they remain key players in governing and providing various types of service in the traditional sector of the economy because of their compatibility with that economic system. They dispense justice, resolve conflicts, and enforce contracts, even though such services are conducted in different ways in different authority systems. We do not yet know whether such institutions will consistently emerge, starting with relatively well-governed states, such as Ghana or Senegal, as a result of repeated, successful alternations of power; or whether they will only occur when Africas political systems burst apart and are reconfigured. The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. They are already governing much of rural Africa. A more recent argument is that traditional institutions are incompatible with economic, social, and civil rights (Chirayath, Sage, & Woolcock, 2005). In Botswana, for example, the consensual decision-making process in the kgotla (public meeting) regulates the power of the chiefs. One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. Interestingly, small and mid-size state leaders have won the award so far.) The challenge facing Africas leadersperhaps above all othersis how to govern under conditions of ethnic diversity. In new countries such as most of those in Africa,7 where the rule of law is in competition with the rule of men, leaders play a strikingly critical role, for good or ill. Political and economic inclusion is the companion requirement for effective and legitimate governance. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. The imperative for inclusion raises many questions: should the priority be to achieve inclusion of diverse elites, of ethnic and confessional constituencies, of a sample of grass roots opinion leaders?