Learn more about joining the community of supporters and scholars working together to advance Hoovers mission and values. The key . This section attempts to explain these seemingly contradictory implications of traditional institutions. Figure 1 captures this turn to authoritarianism in postindependence Africa. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, include belief in a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic and traditional African . These consisted of monarchy, aristocracy and polity. African countries are characterized by fragmentation of various aspects of their political economy, including their institutions of governance. African Politics: A Very Short Introduction | Oxford Academic Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. 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. African Solutions for African Problems - The Real Meaning Precolonial Political Systems - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies 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. This chapter examines traditional leadership within the context of the emerging constitutional democracy in Ghana. However, almost invariably the same functions, whether or not formally defined and characterized in the same terms or exercised in the same manner, are also performed by traditional institutions and their leaders. The leaders in this system have significant powers, as they often are custodians of their communitys land and they dispense justice in their courts. Afrocentrism, also called Africentrism, cultural and political movement whose mainly African American adherents regard themselves and all other Blacks as syncretic Africans and believe that their worldview should positively reflect traditional African values. Chiefs administer land and people, contribute to the creation of rules that regulate the lives of those under their jurisdiction, and are called on to solve disputes among their subjects. Institutional systems emanate from the broader economic and political systems, although they also affect the performance of the economic and political systems. Regardless, fragmentation of institutional systems poses a number of serious challenges to Africas governance and economic development. A more recent example of adaptive resilience is being demonstrated by Ethiopias Abiy Ahmed. One can identify five bases of regime legitimacy in the African context today. Government as a Structural Element of Society 2.2. Democracy and Consensus in African Traditional Politics: a Plea - Jstor There were several reasons for such measures. There are very few similarities between democracy and dictatorship. Unfortunately, transforming the traditional sector is not an easy undertaking and cannot be achieved in a reasonably short time. One-sided violence against unarmed civilians has also spiked up since 2011.4, These numbers require three major points of clarification. On the other hand, weak or destructive governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. Womens inequality in the traditional system is related, at least in part, to age- and gender-based divisions of labor characterizing traditional economic systems. A key factor in the size of adherents of rural institutions, however, seems to depend on the ratio of the population in the traditional economic systems to the total population. America's flawed democracy: the five key areas where it - The Guardian A Long Journey: The Bantu Migrations. Your gift helps advance ideas that promote a free society. By the mid-1970s, the politics of Africa had turned authoritarian. Should inclusion be an ongoing process or a single event? Stated another way, if the abolition of term limits, neo-patrimonialism, and official kleptocracy become a regionally accepted norm, this will make it harder for the better governed states to resist the authoritarian trend. Ndlela (2007: 34) confirms that traditional leaders continue to enjoy their role and recognition in the new dispensation, just like in other African states; and Good (2002: 3) argues that the system of traditional leadership in Botswana exists parallel to the democratic system of government and the challenge is of forging unity. While traditional institutions remain indispensable for the communities operating under traditional economic systems, they also represent institutional fragmentation, although the underlying factor for fragmentation is the prevailing dichotomy of economic systems. Many others choose the customary laws and conflict resolution mechanisms because they correspond better to their way of life. The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (Alkire, Chatterjee, Conconi, Seth, & Vaz, 2014) estimates that the share of rural poverty to total poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is about 73.8%. Both types of government can be effective or infective depending on . In this context the chapter further touches on the compatibility of the institution of chieftaincy with constitutional principles such as equality, accountability, natural justice, good governance, and respect for fundamental human rights. However, their participation in the electoral process has not enabled them to influence policy, protect their customary land rights, and secure access to public services that would help them overcome their deprivation. These different economic systems have corresponding institutional systems with divergent property rights laws and resource allocation mechanisms, disparate decision-making systems, and distinct judicial systems and conflict resolution mechanisms. You cant impose middle class values on a pre-industrial society.13. Command economies, as opposed to free-market economies, do not allow market forces like supply and demand to determine production or prices. In sum, the digitization of African politics raises real challenges for political leaders and has the potential to increase their determination to digitize their own tools of political control. In some cases, community elders select future Sultanes at a young age and groom them for the position. Perhaps one of the most serious shared weakness relates to gender relations. At the same time, traditional institutions represent institutional fragmentation, which has detrimental effects on Africas governance and economic transformation. When conflicts evolve along ethnic lines, they are readily labelled ethnic conflict as if caused by ancient hatreds; in reality, it is more often caused by bad governance and by political entrepreneurs. Types of Government in Africa - Synonym Allocation of resources, such as land, is also much more egalitarian under the traditional system than it is under the private ownership system in the formal state system. There is strong demand for jobs, better economic management, reduced inequality and corruption and such outcome deliverables as health, education and infrastructure.22 Those outcomes require effective governance institutions. They must know the traditional songs and must also be able to improvise songs about current events and chance incidents. Many African countries, Ghana and Uganda, for example, have, like all other states, formal institutions of the state and informal institutions (societal norms, customs, and practices). African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. But African societies are exposed to especially severe pressures, and governments must operate in an environment of high social demands and limited resources and capacity with which to meet them. 17-19 1.6. If more leaders practice inclusive politics or find themselves chastened by the power of civil society to do so, this could point the way to better political outcomes in the region. 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. There was a lot of consultation between the elders before any major decision was made. PDF The role and importance of the institution of traditional leadership in Hoover scholars form the Institutions core and create breakthrough ideas aligned with our mission and ideals. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. 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. Before delving into the inquiry, clarification of some issues would be helpful in avoiding confusion. Hoover scholars offer analysis of current policy challenges and provide solutions on how America can advance freedom, peace, and prosperity. However, institutions are rarely static and they undergo changes induced by internal transformations of broader socioeconomic systems or by external influences or imposition, and in some cases by a combination of the two forces. Consequently, national and regional governance factors interact continuously. Tribe Versus Ethnic Group. Political and economic inclusion is the companion requirement for effective and legitimate governance. A third argument claims that chieftaincy heightens primordial loyalties, as chiefs constitute the foci of ethnic identities (Simwinga quoted in van Binsberger, 1987, p. 156). Almost at a stroke, the relationships between African governments and the major powers and major sources of concessional finance were upended, while political liberalization in the former Soviet bloc helped to trigger global political shock waves. 14 L.A. Ayinla 'African Philosophy of Law: A Critique' 151, available at Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. However, they do not have custodianship of land and they generally do not dispense justice on their own. Still another form of legitimacy in Africa sometimes derives from traditional political systems based on some form of kingship. Although considerable differences exist among the various systems, opportunities for women to participate in decision making in most traditional systems are generally limited. PDF Traditional Leaders In Modern Africa: Can Democracy And The - ETH Z This short article does not attempt to provide answers to all these questions, which require extensive empirical study. PDF NNSO OKAF, Ph.D. (a.k.a. OKEREAFEZEKE) The Boundaries of Tradition: An Examination of the Traditional Nonhereditary selected leaders with constitutional power: A good example of this is the Gada system of the Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya. Another measure is recognition of customary law and traditional judicial systems by the state. 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? Due to the influence of previous South African and Nigerian leaders, the African Union established the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to review and report on a range of governance criteria. In any case, as . The opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University. The Pre-Colonial Period: From the Ashes of Pharaohs to the Berlin Conference At the end of the prehistoric period (10 000 BC), some African nomadic bands began to Unlike the laws of the state, traditional institutions rarely have the coercive powers to enforce their customary laws. West Africa has a long and complex history. In this regard, the president is both the head of state and government, and there are three arms and tiers of rules by which the country is ruled. Differences and Similarities Between a Democracy and a Republic Before then, traditional authorities essentially provided leadership for the various communities and kingdoms. In many cases, the invented chieftaincies were unsuccessful in displacing the consensus-based governance structures (Gartrell, 1983; Uwazie, 1994). Indications are, however, that the more centralized the system is, the lower the accountability and popular participation in decision making. Table 1 shows the proportion of the population that operates under traditional economic systems in selected African countries. Paramount chiefs: Another category of leadership structure is that of hereditary paramount chieftaincy with various traditional titles and various levels of accountability. What Is a Command Economy? - The Balance Often women are excluded from participation in decision making, especially in patrilineal social systems. However, the traditional modes of production and the institutional systems associated with them also remain entrenched among large segments of the population. Certain offences were regarded as serious offences. Such a transformation would render traditional institutions dispensable. Reconciling the parallel institutional systems is also unlikely to deliver the intended results in a short time; however, there may not be any better alternatives. It may be useful to recall that historical kingships or dynasties were the common form of rule in Europe, India, China until modern times, and still is the predominant form of rule on the Arabian Peninsula. Chiefs such as those of the Nuer and Dinka are examples of this category. The first objective of the article is to shed light on the socioeconomic foundations for the resilience of Africas traditional institutions. With the dawn of colonialism in Africa, the traditional African government was sys-tematically weakened, and the strong and influential bond between traditional lead- . Form of State: Federal, Unitary or - Jerusalem Center for Public (2005), customary systems operating outside of the state regime are often the dominant form of regulation and dispute resolution, covering up to 90% of the population in parts of Africa. But the context in which their choices are made is directly influenced by global political trends and the room for maneuver that these give to individual governments and their leaders. 1.4. PDF The Political Ideology of Indigenous African Political Systems and Paramount chieftaincy as a system of local government It should not be surprising that there is a weak social compact between state and society in many African states. One of these will be the role and weight of various powerful external actors. African Politics: A Very Short Introduction explores how politics is practised on the African continent, providing an overview of the different states and their systems. Access to Justice In Sub-Saharan Africa: Role of Traditional and The differences are in terms of how leaders come to assume their positions, how much power they command, and how accountable they are to their communities. This principle is particularly relevant for diversity management, nation-building, and democratization in contemporary Africa. These migrations resulted in part from the formation and disintegration of a series of large states in the western Sudan (the region north of modern Ghana drained by the Niger River). Good and inclusive governance is imperative for Africa's future Fitzpatrick 'Traditionalism and Traditional Law' Journal of African Law, Vol. African Political Systems is an academic anthology edited by the anthropologists Meyer Fortes and E. E. Evans-Pritchard which was published by Oxford University Press on the behalf of the International African Institute in 1940. Act,12 the African system of governance was changed and transformed, and new structures were put in place of old ones.13 Under the Union of South Africa, the Gov- The purpose is to stress that such efforts and the attendant will 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). 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. Council of elders: These systems essentially operate on consensual decision-making arrangements that vary from one place to another. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. 20 A brief account of that history will help to highlight key continuities spanning the colonial, apartheid and the post-apartheid eras in relation to the place of customary law and the role of traditional leaders. Key Takeaways. Pre-Colonial Period in Ghana | Pre-Colonial Political Systems Features Of Traditional Government Administration | Bartleby A long-term route to political and economic success has been comprehensively documented by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson in their global study of why nations fail or succeed. Thus, despite abolition efforts by postcolonial states and the arguments against the traditional institutions in the literature, the systems endure and remain rather indispensable for the communities in traditional economic systems. The term covers the expressed commands of This is done through the enforcement agencies such as the police force. PDF African Traditional Justice Systems Francis Kariuki* 1.1 Introduction 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. The reasons why rural communities adhere to the traditional institutions are many (Logan, 2011; Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). Changes in economic and political systems trigger the need for new institutional systems to manage the new economic and political systems, while endurance of economic and political systems foster durability of existing institutional systems. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. Issues of corruption and transparency are likely to become driving themes in African politics. Comparing Ethiopia and Kenya, for example, shows that adherents to the traditional institutional system is greater in Ethiopia than in Kenya, where the ratio of the population operating in the traditional economic system is smaller and the penetration of the capitalist economic system in rural areas is deeper. The role of chieftaincy within post-colonial African countries continues to incite lively debates, as the case of Ghana exemplifies. 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. A third objective is to examine the relevance of traditional institutions. Africas geopolitical environment is shaped by Africans to a considerable degree. The same source concluded that 7 out of the 12 worst scores for political rights and civil liberties are African.11 As noted, the reasons vary: patrimonialism gone wrong (the big man problem), extreme state fragility and endemic conflict risks, the perverse mobilization of ethnicity by weak or threatened leaders. The balance of power between official and non-official actors will likely shift, as networked activists assert their ability to organize and take to the streets on behalf of diverse causes. Some trust traditional leaders more than they trust state authorities. The evidence suggests that traditional institutions have continued to metamorphose under the postcolonial state, as Africas socioeconomic systems continue to evolve. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. African Political Systems - Wikipedia The link was not copied. Its marginalization, in turn, impedes the transformation of the traditional sector, thus extending the fragmentation of institutions. 1995 focuses on social, economic, and intellectual trends up to the end of the colonial era. As noted, African countries have experienced the rise of the modern (capitalist) economic system along with its corresponding institutional systems. This enhanced his authority. Despite such changes, these institutions are referred to as traditional not because they continue to exist in an unadulterated form as they did in Africas precolonial past but because they are largely born of the precolonial political systems and are adhered to principally, although not exclusively, by the population in the traditional (subsistent) sectors of the economy. What policies and laws will determine relations between farmers and urban dwellers, between farmers and herders, between diverse identity groups living in close proximity or encroaching on each others farm land, and between public officials, criminal networks and ordinary citizens? Module Ten, Activity Two - Exploring Africa African Politics - Political Science - iResearchNet 2007 Relevance of African Traditional Institutions of Governance One is the controversy over what constitutes traditional institutions and if the African institutions referred to as traditional in this inquiry are truly indigenous traditions, since colonialism as well as the postcolonial state have altered them notably, as Zack-Williams (2002) and Kilson (1966) observe. 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. Nation, Tribe and Ethnic Group in Africa | Cultural Survival Wise leadership respects ethnic diversity and works toward inclusive policies. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. If a critical mass of the leaderse.g., South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Cote dIvoire, Algeria, Egyptare heading in a positive direction, they will pull some others along in their wake; of course, the reverse is also true. Africas rural communities, which largely operate under subsistent economic systems, overwhelmingly adhere to the traditional institutional systems while urban communities essentially follow the formal institutional systems, although there are people who negotiate the two institutional systems in their daily lives. Against this broad picture, what is striking is the more recent downward trend in democratic governance in Africa and the relative position of African governance when viewed on a global basis. Galizzi, Paolo and Abotsi, Ernest K., Traditional Institutions and Governance in Modern African Democracies (May 9, 2011). Presently, Nigeria practices the federal system. Prominent among these Sudanic states was the Soninke Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. This section grapples with the questions of whether traditional institutions are relevant in the governance of contemporary Africa and what implications their endurance has on Africas socioeconomic development. Security challenges can impose tough choices on governments that may act in ways that compound the problem, opening the door to heightened risks of corruption and the slippery slope of working with criminal entities. The parallel institutional systems often complement each other in the continents contemporary governance. 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. It considers the nature of the state in sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. The Constitution states that the institution, status and roles of traditional leadership, according to customary law, are recognised. They also serve as guardians and symbols of cultural values and practices. Another layer represents the societal norms and customs that differ along various cultural traits. Rather, they often rely on voluntary compliance, although they also apply some soft power to discourage noncompliance by members with customary laws. Under the circumstances, it becomes critical that traditional leaders are directly involved in local governance so that they protect the interests of their communities. Tribes had relatively little power outside their own group during the colonial period. Why traditional institutional systems endure, how large the adherents to them is, and why populations, especially in rural areas, continue to rely on traditional institutions, even when an alternative system is provided by the state, and what the implications of institutional dichotomy is are questions that have not yet received adequate attention in the literature. Despite apparent differences, the strategies of the three countries have some common features as well that may inform other counties about the measures institutional reconciliation may entail. Broadly speaking, indigenous systems of governance are those that were practiced by local populations in pre-colonial times. Under conditions where nation-building is in a formative stage, the retribution-seeking judicial system and the winner-take-all multiparty election systems often lead to combustible conditions, which undermine the democratization process. The institution of traditional leadership in Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems and was the only known system of governance among indigenous people. For example, the electoral college forces a republic type of voting system. Land privatization is, thus, unworkable in pastoral communities, as communal land ownership would be unworkable in a capitalist economy. African political systems are described in a number of textbooks and general books on African history. Note that Maine and . The pre-colonial system in Yoruba can be described to be democratic because of the inclusion of the principle of checks and balances that had been introduced in the system of administration. Why the traditional systems endure, how the institutional dichotomy impacts the process of building democratic governance, and how the problems of institutional incoherence might be mitigated are issues that have not yet received adequate attention in African studies.
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