Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its countries. 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. An analytical study and impact of colonialism on pre-colonial centralized and decentralized African Traditional and Political Systems. Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. As a result, it becomes highly complex to analyze their roles and structures without specifying the time frame. 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. For these and other reasons, the state-society gap lies at the heart of the problems faced by many states. 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. example of a traditional African political system. The key . At times, devolution has had major fiscal and governance consequences, including serving as a vehicle for co-option and corruption. In this view, nations fail because of extractive economic and political institutions that do not provide incentives for growth and stability. Despite undergoing changes, present-day African traditional institutions, namely the customary laws, the judicial systems and conflict resolution mechanisms, and the property rights and resource allocation practices, largely originate from formal institutions of governance that existed under precolonial African political systems. The origins of this institutional duality, the implications of which are discussed in Relevance and Paradox of Traditional Institutions, are largely traceable to the colonial state, as it introduced new economic and political systems and superimposed corresponding institutional systems upon the colonies without eradicating the existed traditional economic, political, and institutional systems. The formal institutions of checks and balances and accountability of leaders to the population are rather weak in this system. An election bound to be held in the year 2019 will unveil the new .
Public Administration and Traditional Administrative System in Africa Traditional governments have the following functions; Chiefs such as those of the Nuer and Dinka are examples of this category. Judicial marginalization: Another challenge posed by institutional fragmentation relates to marginalization of the traditional system within the formal legal system. The implementation of these systems often . 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. A strict democracy would enforce the "popular vote" total over the entire United States. The political systems of most African nations are based on forms of government put in place by colonial authorities during the era of European rule. In addition to these measures, reconciling fragmented institutions would be more successful when governments invest more resources in transforming the traditional socioeconomic space. Hoover scholars offer analysis of current policy challenges and provide solutions on how America can advance freedom, peace, and prosperity. 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. 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. The first objective of the article is to shed light on the socioeconomic foundations for the resilience of Africas traditional institutions. 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. The features associated with this new form of governmental administration deal with smaller government responsibility for providing goods and services.
Paramount chieftaincy as a system of local government The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest. Others contend that African countries need to follow a mixed institutional system incorporating the traditional and formal systems (Sklar, 2003). The Alafin as the political head of the empire was . In a few easy steps create an account and receive the most recent analysis from Hoover fellows tailored to your specific policy interests. Challenges confronting the institution of chieftaincy have continued from the colonial era into recent times. Some of these conflicts are, in reality, low-tech, sporadic skirmishes and armed attacks.
PDF Structure of Government - EOLSS The fourth part draws a conclusion with a tentative proposal on how the traditional institutions might be reconciled with the formal institutions to address the problem of institutional incoherence. Governments that rely on foreign counterparts and foreign investment in natural resources for a major portion of their budgetsrather than on domestic taxationare likely to have weaker connections to citizens and domestic social groups. The colonial system constitutes the second section. They are the key players in providing judicial service and in conflict management in much of rural Africa. 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. A related reason for their relevance is that traditional institutions, unlike the state, provide rural communities the platform to participate directly in their own governance. Government and the Political System 2.1. The indigenous political system had some democratic features. As noted, African countries have experienced the rise of the modern (capitalist) economic system along with its corresponding institutional systems. African traditional institutions continue to exist in most African countries, albeit at different levels of adherence by the populations of the continent. 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. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. 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. "Law" in traditional Africa includes enforceable traditions, customs, and laws. 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.
Traditional Institutions and Governance in Modern African - SSRN The debate is defined by "traditionalists" and "modernists." . Somalilands strategy has brought traditional leaders into an active role in the countrys formal governance by creating an upper house in parliament, the Guurti, where traditional leaders exercise the power of approving all bills drafted by the lower house of parliament. The first type is rights-based legitimacy deriving from rule of law, periodic elections, and alternation of political power, the kind generally supported by western and some African governments such as Ghana and Senegal. The system of government in the traditional Yoruba society was partially centralised and highly democratic. 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.
eLimu | Political developments and systems 28, (1984) pp. Some live in remote areas beyond the reach of some of the institutions of the state, such as courts. Oftentimes, however, they contradict each other, creating problems associated with institutional incoherence. Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. To sum up, traditional institutions provide vital governance services to communities that operate under traditional socioeconomic spaces. 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. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. In some countries, such as Botswana, customary courts are estimated to handle approximately 80% of criminal cases and 90% of civil cases (Sharma, 2004). 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 . 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. However, the winner takes all system in the individual states is a democracy type of voting system, as the minority gets none of the electoral college votes. In Igbo land for example the system of government was quite unique and transcends the democracy of America and Europe. Even the court system is designed to provide for consociational, provincial, and local organization, not as separate courts but as divisions of the key national courts; once again, a compromise between a fully federal or consociational arrangement and the realities of the South African situation that emphasize the preservation of national unity . Key Takeaways. 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. To illustrate, when there are 2.2 billion Africans, 50% of whom live in cities, how will those cities (and surrounding countryside) be governed?
PDF African Traditional Justice Systems Francis Kariuki* 1.1 Introduction In many tribes, the chief was the representative of the ancestors. The relationship between traditional leadership and inherited western-style governance institutions often generates tensions. It is also highly unlikely that such broader aspects of traditional institutions can be eliminated without transforming the traditional modes of production that foster them. The same technology vectors can also empower criminal, trafficking, and terrorist networks, all of which pose threats to state sovereignty. The express prohibition in the African Charter against discrimination according to ethnic group constitutes a major step for the continent as a whole because the realization of this right will lead to greater economic opportunity for those people not of the same kinship as the head of government. Customary law also manages land tenure and land allocation patterns. Tribes had relatively little power outside their own group during the colonial period. In other cases, however, they survived as paid civil servants of the state without displacing the traditional elder-based traditional authority systems. The Chinese understand the basics. 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. Democratic and dictatorial regimes both vest their authority in one person or a few individuals. 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). Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. Aristotle was the first to define three principal types of government systems in the fourth century B.C. The term covers the expressed commands of Second, the levels of direct battle deaths from these events is relatively low when compared with far higher levels in the wars of the Middle East. He served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 1981 to 1989. At times, these traditional security system elements are sufficient enough for some uses, but there's certainly no denying . Ehret 2002 emphasizes the diversity and long history of precolonial social and political formations, whereas Curtin, et al. In any case, as . The Obas and Caliphs of Nigeria and the Zulu of South Africa are other examples. This approach to governance was prominent in the Oyo empire. Africas economic systems range from a modestly advanced capitalist system, symbolized by modern banking and stock markets, to traditional economic systems, represented by subsistent peasant and pastoral systems. 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). Towards a Definition of Government 1.3. The traditional justice system, thus, does not have the power to grant any rights beyond the local level. At the same time, traditional institutions represent institutional fragmentation, which has detrimental effects on Africas governance and economic transformation.
African Political Systems - Wikipedia Based on existing evidence, the authority systems in postcolonial Africa lie in a continuum between two polar points. 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. The leaders in this system have significant powers, as they often are custodians of their communitys land and they dispense justice in their courts. These dynamics often lead to increased state fragility or the re-authoritarianization of once more participatory governance systems.12 The trend is sometimes, ironically, promoted by western firms and governments more interested in commercial access and getting along with existing governments than with durable political and economic development.
Africa: Laws and Legal Systems - Geography The council system of the Berbers in Northern Africa also falls within this category (UNECA, 2007). 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. With the dawn of colonialism in Africa, the traditional African government was sys-tematically weakened, and the strong and influential bond between traditional lead- . General Overviews. 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. Located on the campus of Stanford University and in Washington, DC, the Hoover Institution is the nations preeminent research center dedicated to generating policy ideas that promote economic prosperity, national security, and democratic governance.
15 Facts on African Religions The Interfaith Observer The Role of Traditional Leaders in Post Independence Countries Botswana One is that the leaders of the postcolonial state saw traditional institutions and their leadership as archaic vestiges of the past that no longer had a place in Africas modern system of governance. Rules of procedure were established through customs and traditions some with oral, some with written constitutions Women played active roles in the political system including holding leadership and military positions. Government, Public Policy Performance, Types of Government. In other words, the transition from traditional modes of production to a capitalist economic system has advanced more in some countries than in others. 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. Ousted royals such as Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) and King Idriss (Libya) may be replaced by self-anointed secular rulers who behave as if they were kings until they, in turn, get overthrown. Additionally, inequalities between parallel socioeconomic spaces, especially with respect to influence on policy, hinder a democratic system, which requires equitable representation and inclusive participation. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. Chieftaincy is further plagued with its own internal problems, including issues of relevance, succession, patriarchy, jurisdiction, corruption and intra-tribal conflict. Political leaders everywhere face competing demands in this regard. For Acemoglu and Robinson, such turning points occur in specific, unique historical circumstances that arise in a societys development. 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. Legitimacy based on successful predation and state capture was well known to the Plantagenets and Tudors as well as the Hapsburgs, Medicis, and Romanovs, to say nothing of the Mughal descendants of Genghis Khan.14 In this fifth model of imagined legitimacy, some African leaders operate essentially on patrimonial principles that Vladimir Putin can easily recognize (the Dos Santos era in Angola, the DRC under Mobutu and Kabila, the Eyadema, Bongo, Biya, and Obiang regimes in Togo, Gabon, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea, respectively).15 Such regimes may seek to perpetuate themselves by positioning wives or sons to inherit power. The three countries have pursued rather different strategies of reconciling their institutional systems and it remains to be seen if any of their strategies will deliver the expected results, although all three countries have already registered some progress in reducing conflicts and in advancing the democratization process relative to countries around them.
List of African Union member states by political system This we might call transformative resilience.21. To learn more, visit
In this respect, they complement official courts that are often unable to provide court services to all their rural communities. Additionally, the Guurti is charged with resolving conflicts in the country using traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. To complicate matters further, the role of traditional institutions is likely to be critical in addressing the problem of institutional fragmentation. They include: Monarchs (absolute or constitutional): While the colonial state reduced most African kings to chiefs, a few survived as monarchs. Introduction. Contents 1. 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. Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics. Consequently, national and regional governance factors interact continuously. But it also reflects the impact of Arab, Russian, Chinese, Indian, European and U.S. vectors of influence which project their differences into African societies. With the introduction of the Black Administration Act the African system of governance and administration was changed and the white government took control of the African population.
Form of State: Federal, Unitary or - Jerusalem Center for Public The settlement of conflicts and disputes in such consensus-based systems involves narrowing of differences through negotiations rather than through adversarial procedures that produce winners and losers. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. Oromos are one of the largest ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa belonging to the Cushitic-speaking peoples in Northeastern Africa in general and in modern Ethiopia and Kenya in particular. This theme, which is further developed below, is especially critical bearing in mind that Africa is the worlds most ethnically complex region, home to 20 of the worlds most diverse countries in terms of ethnic composition.8. This brief overview of conflict in Africa signals the severity of the security challenges to African governance, especially in those sub-regions that feature persistent and recurrent outbreaks of violence. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. In some societies, traditional, tribal authorities may offer informed and genuinely accepted governance, provided that they are not merely government appointees pursuing decentralized self-enrichment. Such adjustments, however, may require contextualization of the institutions of democracy by adjusting these institutions to reflect African realities. 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. 1. 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. One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. Before then, traditional authorities essentially provided leadership for the various communities and kingdoms. Others choose the traditional institutions, for example, in settling disputes because of lower transactional costs. States would be more effective in reforming the traditional judicial system if they recognized them rather than neglecting them, as often is the case. Unfortunately, transforming the traditional sector is not an easy undertaking and cannot be achieved in a reasonably short time. 7. The Aqils (elders) of Somalia and the chiefs in Kenya are good examples. These communities select the Aba Gada, who serves a nonrenewable term of 8 years as leader.