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. Another reason is that African leaders of the postcolonial state, who wanted to consolidate their power, did not want other points of power that would compromise their control. Another measure is recognition of customary law and traditional judicial systems by the state. Hoover scholars offer analysis of current policy challenges and provide solutions on how America can advance freedom, peace, and prosperity. 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. 79 (3), (1995) pp. 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. Yet, the traditional judicial system in most cases operates outside of the states institutional framework. 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. This chapter examines traditional leadership within the context of the emerging constitutional democracy in Ghana. 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. 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. The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest. 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. The result is transitory resilience of the regime, but shaky political stability, declining cohesion, and eventual conflict or violent change. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. This fragmentation is also unlikely to go away anytime soon on its own. Typically, such leaders scheme to rig elections or to change constitutional term limitsactions seen in recent years in such countries as Rwanda and Uganda. "Law" in traditional Africa includes enforceable traditions, customs, and laws. One can identify five bases of regime legitimacy in the African context today. Unlike the laws of the state, traditional institutions rarely have the coercive powers to enforce their customary laws. Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. Unfortunately, little attention by African governments has been given to this paradoxical aspect of traditional institutions. Safeguarding womens rights thus becomes hard without transforming the economic system under which they operate. The roles that traditional authorities can play in the process of good governance can broadly be separated into three categories: first, their advisory role to government, as well as their participatory role in the administration of regions and districts; second, their developmental role, complementing government?s efforts in mobilizing the . Communities in the traditional socioeconomic space are hardly represented in any of the organizations of the state, such as the parliament, where they can influence policy and the legal system to reflect their interests. Admittedly, the problem is by no means uniquely African, but it is very commonly experienced in Africa. Note that Maine and . In African-style democracy the rule of law is only applicable to ordinary people unconnected to the governing party leadership or leader. 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. Sometimes, another precedent flows from thesenamely, pressure from outside the country but with some support internally as well for creating a transitional government of national unity. Often women are excluded from participation in decision making, especially in patrilineal social systems. A second attribute is the participatory decision-making system. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. 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. Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its countries. Note: The term rural population is used as a proxy for the population operating under traditional economic systems. In a few easy steps create an account and receive the most recent analysis from Hoover fellows tailored to your specific policy interests. Issues of corruption and transparency are likely to become driving themes in African politics. Finally, the chapter considers the future of the institution against the background of the many issues and challenges considered. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. The development of inclusive institutions may involve struggles that enable political and societal actors to check the domination of entrenched rulers and to broaden rule-based participation in governance. The council system of the Berbers in Northern Africa also falls within this category (UNECA, 2007). 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. 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). 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. 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. These circumstances can generate an authoritarian reflex and the temptation to circle the wagons against all sources of potential opposition. Why can't democracy with African characteristics maintain the values, culture and traditional system of handling indiscipline, injustice and information management in society to take firm roots. The kings and chiefs of Angola and Asante, for example, allowed European merchants to send their representatives to their courts. Third, Africas conflict burden reflects different forms and sources of violence that sometimes become linked to each other: political movements may gain financing and coercive support from criminal networks and traffickers, while religious militants with connections to terrorist groups are often adept at making common cause with local grievance activists. 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 . 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. This article contends that postcolonial African traditional institutions lie in a continuum between the highly decentralized to the centralized systems and they all have resource allocation practices, conflict resolution and judicial systems, and decision-making practices, which are distinct from those of the state. 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 Ibo village assembly in eastern Nigeria, the Eritrean village Baito (assembly), the council of elders (kiama) of the Kikuyu in Kenya, and the kaya elders of the Mijikenda in the coast of Kenya are among well-known examples where decisions are largely made in a consensual manner of one kind or another (Andemariam, 2017; Mengisteab, 2003). The Chinese understand the basics. Following decolonization, several African countries attempted to abolish aspects of the traditional institutional systems. Uneven access to public services, such as educational, health, and communication services, and the disproportionately high poverty rates in the traditional sector are manifestations of the sectors marginalization. In many cases European or Islamic legal traditions have replaced or significantly modified traditional African ones. It seems clear that Africas conflict burden declined steadily after the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s owing to successful peace processes outstripping the outbreak of new conflicts; but the burden has been spiking up again since then. 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 introduction of alien economic and political systems by the colonial state relegated Africas precolonial formal institutions to the sphere of informality, although they continued to operate in modified forms, in part due to the indirect rule system of colonialism and other forms of reliance by colonial states on African institutions of governance to govern their colonies. On the opposite side are the decentralized systems, led by a council of elders, that command little formal power. By 2016, 35 AU members had joined it, but less than half actually subjected themselves to being assessed. While comprehensive empirical studies on the magnitude of adherence to traditional institutions are lacking, some studies point out that most people in rural areas prefer the judicial service provided by traditional institutions to those of the state, for a variety of reasons (Logan, 2011; Mengisteab & Hagg, 2017). A third pattern flows from the authoritarian reflex where big men operate arbitrary political machines, often behind a thin democratic veneer. 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. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. the system even after independence. Such chiefs also have rather limited powers. Institutions represent an enduring collection of formal laws and informal rules, customs, codes of conduct, and organized practices that shape human behavior and interaction. Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. 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. But established and recognized forms of inherited rule cannot be lightly dismissed as un-modern, especially when linked to the identity of an ethnic or tribal group, and could be construed as a building block of legitimacy. Stagnant economy, absence of diversification in occupational patterns and allegiance to traditionall these have a bearing on the system of education prevailing in these societies. This we might call transformative resilience.21. This can happen in several ways. 17-19 1.6. for in tradi-tional African communities, politics and religion were closely associated. However, three countries, Botswana, Somaliland, and South Africa, have undertaken differing measures with varying levels of success. Legitimate authority, in turn, is based on accepted laws and norms rather than the arbitrary, unconstrained power of the rulers. Customary law also manages land tenure and land allocation patterns. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. Traditional leaders would also be able to use local governance as a platform for exerting some influence on national policymaking. 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. 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). 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. The campaign by some (but not all) African states to pull out of the International Criminal Court is but one illustration of the trend. Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers. Womens access to property rights is also limited, as they are often denied the right of access to inheritance as well as equal division of property in cases of divorce. On the other hand, weak or destructive governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. An alternative strategy of bringing about institutional harmony would be to transform the traditional economic systems into an exchange-based economy that would be compatible with the formal institutions of the state. 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). 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. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. 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. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Many other countries have non-centralized elder-based traditional institutions. 20-27, at p. 21; Carey N. Vicenti 'The re-emergence of tribal society and traditional justice systems' Judicature, Vol. During the colonial period, "tribe" was used to identify specific cultural and political groups in much the same way as "nation" is defined above. It is imperative that customary land rights are recognized and respected so that communities in the traditional economic system exercise control of land and other resources under their customary ownership, at least until alternative sources of employment are developed to absorb those who might be displaced. The movement towards a formal state system is characterized by its emphasis on retribution and punishment. The challenge facing Africas leadersperhaps above all othersis how to govern under conditions of ethnic diversity. The role of traditional leaders in modern Africa, especially in modern African democracies, is complex and multifaceted. These partners, for their part, sometimes disengaged from close political ties and often brought new governance conditions into their assistance programs. 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. The traditional Africa system of government is open and inclusive, where strangers, foreigners and even slaves could participate in the decision-making process. Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University. No doubt rural communities participate in elections, although they are hardly represented in national assemblies by people from their own socioeconomic space. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. 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. 1.4. 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. 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.
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