This outline leads us to examine more closely the sources of legitimacy in African governance systems. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. Basing key political decisions on broad societal and inter-party consensus may help to de-escalate cutthroat competition that often leads to violent conflicts. Customary law, for example, does not protect communities from violations of their customary land rights through land-taking by the state. Rather, they often rely on voluntary compliance, although they also apply some soft power to discourage noncompliance by members with customary laws. Extensive survey research is required to estimate the size of adherents to traditional institutions. The features associated with this new form of governmental administration deal with smaller government responsibility for providing goods and services. 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? This enhanced his authority. 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. 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. 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. Galizzi, Paolo and Abotsi, Ernest K., Traditional Institutions and Governance in Modern African Democracies (May 9, 2011). Any insurrection by a segment of the population has the potential to bring about not only the downfall of governments but also the collapse of the entire apparatus of the state because the popular foundation of the African state is weak. To learn more, visit
The guiding principle behind these two attributes is that conflict is a societal problem and that resolving conflict requires societal engagement. By 2016, 35 AU members had joined it, but less than half actually subjected themselves to being assessed. This discussion leads to an analysis of African conflict trends to help identify the most conflict-burdened sub-regions and to highlight the intimate link between governance and conflict patterns. As Mamdani has argued, understanding the role of traditional leadership and customary law in contemporary African societies requires us to understand its history. A more recent example of adaptive resilience is being demonstrated by Ethiopias Abiy Ahmed. The debate is defined by "traditionalists" and "modernists." . The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. Others choose the traditional institutions, for example, in settling disputes because of lower transactional costs. 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. Large segments of the rural populations, the overwhelming majority in most African countries, continue to adhere principally to traditional institutions. 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. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. 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. A second objective is to draw a tentative typology of the different authority systems of Africas traditional institutions. The implementation of these systems often . The traditional Africa system of government is open and inclusive, where strangers, foreigners and even slaves could participate in the decision-making process. 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. The Constitution states that the institution, status and roles of traditional leadership, according to customary law, are recognised. The laws and legal systems of Africa have developed from three distinct legal traditions: traditional or customary African law, Islamic law, and the legal systems of Western Europe. There is one constitution and one set of laws and rules for ordinary people, and quite other for the ruling family and the politically connected elite. Others contend that African countries need to follow a mixed institutional system incorporating the traditional and formal systems (Sklar, 2003). Even so, customary law still exerts a strong . There are several types of government systems in African politics: in an absolute monarchy, the head of state and head of government is a monarch with unlimited legal authority,; in a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is a ceremonial figurehead who has few political competences,; in a presidential system, the president is the head of state and head of government, Africa contains more sovereign nations than any other continent, with 54 countries compared to Asia's 47. 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. As institutional scholars state, institutional incompatibility leads to societal conflicts by projecting different laws governing societal interactions (Eisenstadt, 1968; Helmke & Levitsky, 2004; March & Olsen, 1984; North, 1990; Olsen, 2007). One common feature is recognition of customary property rights laws, especially that of land. 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. f Basic Features cont. 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. This proposal will be subject to a referendum on the constitutional changes required.16.2e 2.4 Traditional leadership Traditional leaders are accorded A strict democracy would enforce the "popular vote" total over the entire United States. With its eminent scholars and world-renowned library and archives, the Hoover Institution seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic opportunity and prosperity, while securing and safeguarding peace for America and all mankind. The challenge facing Africas leadersperhaps above all othersis how to govern under conditions of ethnic diversity. 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. A second conflict pattern can develop along the lines of ethnic cleavages which can be readily politicized and then militarized into outright ethnic violence. Understanding the Gadaa System. 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. In these relatively new nations, the critical task for leadership is to build a social contract that is sufficiently inclusive to permit the management of diversity. 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. Within this spectrum, some eight types of leadership structures can be identified. Subsequent to the colonial experience, traditional institutions may be considered to be informal institutions in the sense that they are often not sanctioned by the state. Many other countries have non-centralized elder-based traditional institutions. 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. This chapter examines traditional leadership within the context of the emerging constitutional democracy in Ghana. 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. 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). You cant impose middle class values on a pre-industrial society.13. Safeguarding womens rights thus becomes hard without transforming the economic system under which they operate. African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. The role of chieftaincy within post-colonial African countries continues to incite lively debates, as the case of Ghana exemplifies. Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. Beyond such macro factors, several less obvious variables seem important to the political and economic governance future of the region. Yet, governments are expected to govern and make decisions after consulting relevant stakeholders. 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. 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
The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest.