This adds to the challenge of building national identities; this identity vacuum increases the risk that political elites and social groups will capture the state for narrower, self-interested purposes that weaken, rather than strengthen, social cohesion. Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics. This short article does not attempt to provide answers to all these questions, which require extensive empirical study. . for in tradi-tional African communities, politics and religion were closely associated. 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. Fitzpatrick 'Traditionalism and Traditional Law' Journal of African Law, Vol. The structures of leadership of African traditional institutions are diverse and they have yet to be mapped out comprehensively. 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. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in 0.093 seconds, Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely. 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. The problems that face African governments are universal. Judicial Administration. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. Paramount chiefs: Another category of leadership structure is that of hereditary paramount chieftaincy with various traditional titles and various levels of accountability. Against this backdrop, where is African governance headed? 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. Less than 20% of Africa's states achieved statehood following rebellion or armed insurgency; in the others, independence flowed from . The council system of the Berbers in Northern Africa also falls within this category (UNECA, 2007). The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest. Many of the chieftaincy systems, such as those in much of South Africa, the Asantehene of the Ashanti of Ghana, the Tswana of Botswana, and the Busoga of Uganda seem to fall within this category. The roles assigned to them by the colonial state came to an end, and the new state imposed its own modifications of their roles. The movement towards a formal state system is characterized by its emphasis on retribution and punishment. This proposal will be subject to a referendum on the constitutional changes required.16.2e 2.4 Traditional leadership Traditional leaders are accorded The means by which the traditional government reached out to her subjects varied from sounds, signs to symbol, and the central disseminator was the "town crier". 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. Typically, such leaders scheme to rig elections or to change constitutional term limitsactions seen in recent years in such countries as Rwanda and Uganda. 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. The challenge facing Africas leadersperhaps above all othersis how to govern under conditions of ethnic diversity. 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. The first three parts deal with the principal objectives of the article. The indigenous political system had some democratic features. 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. Yet, the traditional judicial system in most cases operates outside of the states institutional framework. 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. Another common feature is the involvement of traditional authorities in the governance process, at least at the local level. Greater access to public services and to productivity-enhancing technology would also help in enhancing the transformation of the subsistence sector. With the exceptions of a few works, such as Legesse (1973), the institutions of the 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. 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. This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. Another measure is recognition of customary law and traditional judicial systems by the state. 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 leaders in this system have significant powers, as they often are custodians of their communitys land and they dispense justice in their courts. 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). 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. Ten years later, in 2017, the number of conflicts was 18, taking place in 13 different countries. Legal norms are an integral part of the discussion about inclusivity since they affect every aspect of economic and personal life; this poses a critical question over whether individual rights or group rights take precedence in the normative hierarchy. 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. Indigenous education is a process of passing the inherited knowledge, skills, cultural traditions norms and values of the tribe, among the tribal member from one generation to another Mushi (2009). As a result, it becomes highly complex to analyze their roles and structures without specifying the time frame. 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? Constitutions of postcolonial states have further limited the power of chiefs. Each of these societies had a system of government. A command economy, also known as a planned economy, is one in which the central government plans, organizes, and controls all economic activities to maximize social welfare. 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. 134-141. The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. African traditional administrative system with bureaucratization in the emerged new states of Africa. 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. 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.1. These features include nonprofits, non-profits and hybrid entities are now provide goods and services that were once delivered by the government. 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. 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. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. My intention in this chapter is to explore the traditional African ideas and values of politics with a view to pointing up what may be described as the democratic features of the indigenous system of government and to examine whether, and in what ways, such features can be said to be harmonious with the ethos of contemporary political culture and hence can be said to be relevant to . There is a basic distinction between those systems with a centralized authority exercised through the machinery of government and those without any such authority in which . Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. Additionally, the transaction costs for services provided by the traditional institutions are much lower than the services provided by the state. Ehret 2002 emphasizes the diversity and long history of precolonial social and political formations, whereas Curtin, et al. 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. 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. 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. This chapter examines traditional leadership within the context of the emerging constitutional democracy in Ghana. 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). West Africa has a long and complex history. The same factors that hinder nation-building hinder democratization. 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. 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. Among them were those in Ethiopia, Morocco, Swaziland, and Lesotho. Government: A Multifarious Concept 1.2. Under the circumstances, it becomes critical that traditional leaders are directly involved in local governance so that they protect the interests of their communities. The Obas and Caliphs of Nigeria and the Zulu of South Africa are other examples. 2. History. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. There were several reasons for such measures. The quality and durability of such leader-defined adaptive resilience cannot be assured and can be reversed unless the associated norms become institutionalized. Perhaps one of the most serious shared weakness relates to gender relations. Institutional systems emanate from the broader economic and political systems, although they also affect the performance of the economic and political systems. 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. In some countries, such as Botswana, customary courts are estimated to handle approximately 80% of criminal cases and 90% of civil cases (Sharma, 2004). Admittedly, the problem is by no means uniquely African, but it is very commonly experienced in Africa. Broadly speaking, indigenous systems of governance are those that were practiced by local populations in pre-colonial times. 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. 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. The link was not copied. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. At times, these traditional security system elements are sufficient enough for some uses, but there's certainly no denying . Paramount chiefs with rather weak system of accountability: The Buganda of Uganda and the Nupe in Nigeria are good examples. A second objective is to draw a tentative typology of the different authority systems of Africas traditional institutions. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. Integration of traditional and modern governance systems in Africa. Chieftaincy is further plagued with its own internal problems, including issues of relevance, succession, patriarchy, jurisdiction, corruption and intra-tribal conflict. 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. Chiefs such as those of the Nuer and Dinka are examples of this category. In this view, nations fail because of extractive economic and political institutions that do not provide incentives for growth and stability. 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. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. The arguments against traditional institutions are countered by arguments that consider traditional institutions to be indispensable and that they should be the foundations of African institutions of governance (Davidson, 1992). African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. In Sierra Leone, paramount chiefs are community leaders and their tasks involve - among others - protecting community safety and resolving disputes. A second argument is that traditional institutions are hindrances to the development of democratic governance (Mamdani, 1996; Ntsebeza, 2005). Most African countries have yet to develop carefully considered strategies of how to reconcile their fragmented institutional systems. In other cases, however, they survived as paid civil servants of the state without displacing the traditional elder-based traditional authority systems. 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 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. Often women are excluded from participation in decision making, especially in patrilineal social systems. The point here is that peer pressure, examples, and precedents are especially important in a region of 54 states, many of them dependent on satisfactory relations with their neighbors. In West Africa, a griot is a praise singer or poet who possesses a repository of oral tradition passed down from generation to generation. Africa contains more sovereign nations than any other continent, with 54 countries compared to Asia's 47. 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). 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. Chiefs with limited power: Another category of chiefs is those that are hereditary, like the paramount chiefs, but have limited powers. The link between conflict and governance is a two-way street. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. Some African nations are prosperous while others struggle. The chapter further examines the dabbling of traditional leaders in the political process in spite of the proscription of the institution from mainstream politics and, in this context, analyzes the policy rationale for attempting to detach chieftaincy from partisan politics. 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. The term covers the expressed commands of 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. 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. General Overviews. This situation supported an external orientation in African politics in which Cold War reference points and former colonial relationships assured that African governments often developed only a limited sense of connection to their own societies. 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. Institutions represent an enduring collection of formal laws and informal rules, customs, codes of conduct, and organized practices that shape human behavior and interaction. f Basic Features cont. The third section deals with the post-colonial period and discusses some problems associated with African administration. This can happen in several ways. Your gift helps advance ideas that promote a free society. 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. Key Takeaways. Customary law, for example, does not protect communities from violations of their customary land rights through land-taking by the state. Since then, many more have been formulated, but the main themes and ideas have remained. Prominent among these Sudanic states was the Soninke Kingdom of Ancient Ghana. Presently, Nigeria practices the federal system. The features associated with this new form of governmental administration deal with smaller government responsibility for providing goods and services. On the other hand, weak or destructive governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. Certain offences were regarded as serious offences. Political and economic inclusion is the companion requirement for effective and legitimate governance.
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