Similarities between Democratic and Authoritarian Government. Another driver of governance trends will be the access enjoyed by youthful and rapidly urbanizing populations to the technologies that are changing the global communications space. There is no more critical variable than governance, for it is governance that determines whether there are durable links between the state and the society it purports to govern. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. Less than 20% of Africas states achieved statehood following rebellion or armed insurgency; in the others, independence flowed from peaceful transfers of authority from colonial officials to African political elites. One of these is the potential influence exerted by the regions leading states, measured in terms of size, population, economic weight, and overall political clout and leadership prestige. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. The formal institutions of checks and balances and accountability of leaders to the population are rather weak in this system.
Precolonial Political Systems - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies The Chinese understand the basics. media system, was concerned with the more systematized dissemination of information between the traditional administrative organ and the people (subjects). The Sultanes of Somalia are examples of this category and the community has specific criteria as to who is qualified to be a chief (Ahmed, 2017). Based on existing evidence, the authority systems in postcolonial Africa lie in a continuum between two polar points. In Ghana, for example, local governance is an area where traditional leadership and the constitutional government sometimes lock horns. Traditional leaders often feel left out when the government takes decisions affecting their people and land without their consent or involvement. 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. A partial explanation as to why the traditional systems endure was given in the section Why African Traditional Institutions Endure. The argument in that section was that they endure primarily because they are compatible with traditional economic systems, under which large segments of the African population still operate. Examine the definitions, strengths, and weaknesses of several common governments: monarchy, theocracy .
(PDF) INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS - Academia.edu Good and inclusive governance is imperative for Africa's future In Sierra Leone, for example, approximately 85% of the population falls under the jurisdiction of customary law, defined under the constitution as the rules of law which, by custom, are applicable to particular communities in Sierra Leone. In Botswana, for example, the consensual decision-making process in the kgotla (public meeting) regulates the power of the chiefs. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. Such a transformation would render traditional institutions dispensable. Unfortunately, transforming the traditional sector is not an easy undertaking and cannot be achieved in a reasonably short time. At times, these traditional security system elements are sufficient enough for some uses, but there's certainly no denying . 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. A more recent argument is that traditional institutions are incompatible with economic, social, and civil rights (Chirayath, Sage, & Woolcock, 2005). Institutions represent an enduring collection of formal laws and informal rules, customs, codes of conduct, and organized practices that shape human behavior and interaction. West Africa has a long and complex history. While this seems obvious, it is less clear what vectors and drivers will have the most weight in shaping that outcome. 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.) In many cases, the invented chieftaincies were unsuccessful in displacing the consensus-based governance structures (Gartrell, 1983; Uwazie, 1994). Hindrance to democratization: Perhaps among the most important challenges institutional fragmentation poses is to the process of democratization. In traditional African communities, it was not possible to distinguish between religious and non-religious areas of life. To learn more, visit
After examining the history, challenges, and opportunities for the institution of traditional leadership within a modern democracy, the chapter considers the effect of the current constitutional guarantee for chieftaincy and evaluates its practical workability and structural efficiency under the current governance system. There are very few similarities between democracy and dictatorship. The Alafin as the political head of the empire was . Traditional leaders would also be able to use local governance as a platform for exerting some influence on national policymaking. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in 0.093 seconds, Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely. Indeed, it should be added that a high percentage of todays conflicts are recurrences of previous ones, often in slightly modified form with parties that may organize under more than one flag. The scope of the article is limited to an attempt to explain how the endurance of African traditional institutions is related to the continents economic systems and to shed light on the implications of fragmented institutional systems. Decision making is generally participatory and often consensus-based. South Africa has a mixed economy in which there is a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic . African traditional institutions continue to exist in most African countries, albeit at different levels of adherence by the populations of the continent. In this view, nations fail because of extractive economic and political institutions that do not provide incentives for growth and stability. As Legesse (1973, 2000) notes, the fundamental principles that guide the consensus-based (decentralized) authority systems include curbing the concentration of power in an institution or a person and averting the emergence of a rigid hierarchy. 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). Although much has been lost in the shadows and fogs of a time before people created written accounts, historians . If African political elite opinion converges with that of major external voices in favoring stabilization over liberal peacebuilding agendas, the implications for governance are fairly clear.17. One snapshot by the influential Mo Ibrahim index of African Governance noted in 2015 that overall governance progress in Africa is stalling, and decided not to award a leadership award that year. What sets Hoover apart from all other policy organizations is its status as a center of scholarly excellence, its locus as a forum of scholarly discussion of public policy, and its ability to bring the conclusions of this scholarship to a public audience. African indigenous education was. However, the system of traditional government varied from place to place. Land privatization is, thus, unworkable in pastoral communities, as communal land ownership would be unworkable in a capitalist economy. Another basic question is, whom to include? Today, the five most common government systems include democracy, republic, monarchy, communism and . The same factors that hinder nation-building hinder democratization. Yet, governments are expected to govern and make decisions after consulting relevant stakeholders. In the postcolonial era, their roles changed again. The book contains eight separate papers produced by scholars working in the field of anthropology, each of which focuses in on a different society in Sub-Saharan Africa. Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics. The jury is still out on the merits of this practice. The Obas and Caliphs of Nigeria and the Zulu of South Africa are other examples. Pastoral economic systems, for example, foster communal land tenure systems that allow unhindered mobility of livestock, while a capitalist economic system requires a private land ownership system that excludes access to others and allows long-term investments on land. 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?
PDF African Governance Systems in the Pre and Post-Independence Periods Its marginalization, in turn, impedes the transformation of the traditional sector, thus extending the fragmentation of institutions. To illustrate, when there are 2.2 billion Africans, 50% of whom live in cities, how will those cities (and surrounding countryside) be governed? He served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 1981 to 1989. Perhaps a more realistic transitional approach would be to reconcile the parallel institutions while simultaneously pursuing policies that transform traditional economic systems. Wise leadership respects ethnic diversity and works toward inclusive policies. Additionally, inequalities between parallel socioeconomic spaces, especially with respect to influence on policy, hinder a democratic system, which requires equitable representation and inclusive participation. 3. The structures of leadership of African traditional institutions are diverse and they have yet to be mapped out comprehensively. This proposal will be subject to a referendum on the constitutional changes required.16.2e 2.4 Traditional leadership Traditional leaders are accorded 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. Violating customary property rights, especially land takings, without adequate compensation impedes institutional reconciliation by impoverishing rather than transforming communities operating in the traditional economic system. The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest. In Module Seven A: African History, you explored the histories of a wide diversity of pre-colonial African societies. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. In addition, they have traditional institutions of governance of various national entities, including those surrounding the Asantehene of the Ashanti in Ghana and the Kabaka of the Buganda in Uganda. The abolishment of chieftaincy does not eradicate the systems broader underlying features, such as customary law, decision-making systems, and conflict resolution practices. They are less concerned with doctrines and much more so with rituals . Following decolonization, several African countries attempted to abolish aspects of the traditional institutional systems. Integration of traditional and modern governance systems in Africa. Consequently, national and regional governance factors interact continuously. In some cases, community elders select future Sultanes at a young age and groom them for the position. Government as a Structural Element of Society 2.2.
7 Main Features of a Traditional Society - Sociology Discussion 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. It is unlikely, however, that such harmony can be brought about by measures that aim to abolish the traditional system, as was attempted by some countries in the aftermath of decolonization. Before delving into the inquiry, clarification of some issues would be helpful in avoiding confusion. 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).
Traditional Governance Systems - Participedia The leaders in this system have significant powers, as they often are custodians of their communitys land and they dispense justice in their courts. The campaign by some (but not all) African states to pull out of the International Criminal Court is but one illustration of the trend. Its ability to influence policy is limited in large part because of its institutional detachment from the state and because of its poverty and lack of capacity to participate in the political process. 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. Given its institutional disconnect with the state, the traditional sector and the communities that operate under it invariably face marginalization in influencing policy as well as in access to economic resources throughout the continent. The colonial state, for example, invented chiefs where there were no centralized authority systems and imposed them on the decentralized traditional systems, as among the Ibo of Eastern Nigeria, the Tonga in Zambia, various communities in Kenya, and the communities in Somalia.
Features/Characteristics Of Government - 2022 - StopLearn The Aqils (elders) of Somalia and the chiefs in Kenya are good examples. 1. In Sierra Leone, paramount chiefs are community leaders and their tasks involve - among others - protecting community safety and resolving disputes. One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. Tribes had relatively little power outside their own group during the colonial period. In the past decade, traditional security systems utilized in commercial or government facilities have consisted of a few basic elements: a well-trained personnel, a CCTV system, and some kind of access control system. Less than 20% of Africa's states achieved statehood following rebellion or armed insurgency; in the others, independence flowed from . However, they are not merely customs and norms; rather they are systems of governance, which were formal in precolonial times and continue to exist in a semiformal manner in some countries and in an informal manner in others. One scholar specializing on the Horn of Africa likens the situation a political marketplace in which politics and violence are simply options along the spectrum pursued by powerful actors.5. 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.