Different property rights laws are a notable source of conflict in many African countries. 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. 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. Hindrance to democratization: Perhaps among the most important challenges institutional fragmentation poses is to the process of democratization. According to the African Development Bank, good governance should be built on a foundation of (I) effective states, (ii) mobilized civil societies, and (iii) an efficient private sector. Traditional affairs. Others choose the traditional institutions, for example, in settling disputes because of lower transactional costs. In Sierra Leone, paramount chiefs are community leaders and their tasks involve - among others - protecting community safety and resolving disputes. The same factors that hinder nation-building hinder democratization. Rather, they are conveners of assemblies of elders or lower level chiefs who deliberate on settlement of disputes. Evidence from case studies, however, suggests that the size of adherents varies from country to country. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. Chieftaincy is further plagued with its own internal problems, including issues of relevance, succession, patriarchy, jurisdiction, corruption and intra-tribal conflict. A strict democracy would enforce the "popular vote" total over the entire United States. 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. Such a transformation would render traditional institutions dispensable. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. 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. One can identify five bases of regime legitimacy in the African context today. At times, these traditional security system elements are sufficient enough for some uses, but there's certainly no denying . 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. 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). 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. The initial constitutions and legal systems were derived from the terminal colonial era. Based on existing evidence, the authority systems in postcolonial Africa lie in a continuum between two polar points. Their "rediscovery" in modern times has led to an important decolonization of local and community management in order to pursue genuine self-determination. Government and the Political System 2.1. Although much has been lost in the shadows and fogs of a time before people created written accounts, historians . Africa's tumultuous political history has resulted in extreme disparities between the wealth and stability of its 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. The purpose is to stress that such efforts and the attendant will The government is undertaking a review of local government, which includes a commitment to introduce direct election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs). Towards a Definition of Government 1.3. As Legesse (1973, 2000) notes, the fundamental principles that guide the consensus-based (decentralized) authority systems include curbing the concentration of power in an institution or a person and averting the emergence of a rigid hierarchy. Command economies, as opposed to free-market economies, do not allow market forces like supply and demand to determine production or prices. Paramount chieftaincy is a traditional system of local government and an integral element of governance in some African countries such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and Ivory Coast. 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. One common feature is recognition of customary property rights laws, especially that of land. by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University. Should inclusion be an ongoing process or a single event? . Other governance systems in the post-independence era and their unique features, if any. In addition, according to Chirayath et al. Many other countries have non-centralized elder-based traditional institutions. They include: Monarchs (absolute or constitutional): While the colonial state reduced most African kings to chiefs, a few survived as monarchs. An analytical study and impact of colonialism on pre-colonial centralized and decentralized African Traditional and Political Systems. Leaders may not be the only ones who support this definition of legitimacy. Ten years later, in 2017, the number of conflicts was 18, taking place in 13 different countries. (No award was made in 50% of the years since the program was launched in 2007; former Liberian president Ellen John Sirleaf won the award in 2017. 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. In Sierra Leone, for example, approximately 85% of the population falls under the jurisdiction of customary law, defined under the constitution as the rules of law which, by custom, are applicable to particular communities in Sierra Leone. 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. Additionally, the Guurti is charged with resolving conflicts in the country using traditional conflict resolution mechanisms. Most African countries are characterized by parallel institutions, one representing the formal laws of the state and the other representing the traditional institutions that are adhered to more commonly in rural areas. The first three parts deal with the principal objectives of the article. Typically, such leaders scheme to rig elections or to change constitutional term limitsactions seen in recent years in such countries as Rwanda and Uganda. Issues of corruption and transparency are likely to become driving themes in African politics. This fragmentation is also unlikely to go away anytime soon on its own. As noted, African countries have experienced the rise of the modern (capitalist) economic system along with its corresponding institutional systems. West Africa has a long and complex history. example of a traditional African political system. The colonial state modified their precolonial roles. 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. FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT. This can happen in several ways. According to this analysis, Africas traditional institutional systems are likely to endure as long as the traditional subsistent economic systems continue to exist. 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. Ehret 2002 emphasizes the diversity and long history of precolonial social and political formations, whereas Curtin, et al. To complicate matters further, the role of traditional institutions is likely to be critical in addressing the problem of institutional fragmentation. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. The jury is still out on the merits of this practice. not because of, the unique features of US democracy . They are well known, among others, for their advancement of an indigenous democratic process known as Gadaa. 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. As noted, there are notable differences in the authority systems of African traditional institutions. Settling a case in an official court, for example, may involve long-distance travel for villagers and it may require lawyers, translators, a long wait, and court fees, while a traditional court rarely involves such costs and inconveniences. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. The end of colonialism, however, did not end institutional dichotomy, despite attempts by some postcolonial African states to abolish the traditional system, especially the chieftaincy-based authority systems. A Long Journey: The Bantu Migrations. The result is transitory resilience of the regime, but shaky political stability, declining cohesion, and eventual conflict or violent change. 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. It assigned them new roles while stripping away some of their traditional roles. Institutional dichotomy also seems to be a characteristic of transitional societies, which are between modes of production. In Igbo land for example the system of government was quite unique and transcends the democracy of America and Europe. The article has three principal objectives and is organized into four parts. 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. A more recent example of adaptive resilience is being demonstrated by Ethiopias Abiy Ahmed. Similarly, the process of conflict resolution is undertaken in an open assembly and is intended to reconcile parties in conflict rather than to merely punish offenders. This principle is particularly relevant for diversity management, nation-building, and democratization in contemporary Africa. Traditional institutions already adjudicate undisclosed but large proportions of rural disputes. 14 L.A. Ayinla 'African Philosophy of Law: A Critique' 151, available at Integration of traditional and modern governance systems in Africa. 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. 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. 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. The indigenous political system had some democratic features. 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. 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. In many cases, the invented chieftaincies were unsuccessful in displacing the consensus-based governance structures (Gartrell, 1983; Uwazie, 1994). Government acknowledges the critical role of traditional leadership institutions in South Africa's constitutional democracy and in communities, particularly in relation to the Rural . That is, each society had a set of rules, laws, and traditions, sometimes called customs, that established how the people would live together peacefully as part of larger group. The question then becomes, how to be inclusive?19 A number of African states have decentralized their political decision-making systems and moved to share or delegate authority from the center to provincial or local levels. 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. Not surprisingly, incumbent leaders facing these challenges look to short-term military remedies and extend a welcome to military partnerswith France, the United States, and the United Nations the leading candidates. This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . An election bound to be held in the year 2019 will unveil the new . If African political elite opinion converges with that of major external voices in favoring stabilization over liberal peacebuilding agendas, the implications for governance are fairly clear.17. Before delving into the inquiry, clarification of some issues would be helpful in avoiding confusion. The long-term, global pushback by the leading authoritarian powers against liberal governance norms has consequences in Africa and other regions as governments directly act to close the space for civil society to operate. Even old-fashioned tyrants learn that inclusion or co-option are expensive. This point links the reader to the other Africa chapters that have been prepared for this project. Government as a Structural Element of Society 2.2. Greater access to public services and to productivity-enhancing technology would also help in enhancing the transformation of the subsistence sector. 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. 2. Chief among them is that they remain key players in governing and providing various types of service in the traditional sector of the economy because of their compatibility with that economic system. Even so, customary law still exerts a strong . Beyond the traditional sector, traditional institutions also have important attributes that can benefit formal institutions. Rather, they often rely on voluntary compliance, although they also apply some soft power to discourage noncompliance by members with customary laws. 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. Government and Political Systems. Unlike the laws of the state, traditional institutions rarely have the coercive powers to enforce their customary laws. Oftentimes, however, they contradict each other, creating problems associated with institutional incoherence. Tribes had relatively little power outside their own group during the colonial period. The leaders, their families and allies are exempt. Rule that is based on predation and political monopoly is unlikely to enjoy genuine popular legitimacy, but it can linger for decades unless there are effective countervailing institutions and power centers. 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. On the one side, there are the centralized systems where leaders command near absolute power. Unfortunately, transforming the traditional sector is not an easy undertaking and cannot be achieved in a reasonably short time. 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). Cookie Settings. The nature of governance is central because it determines whether the exercise of authority is viewed as legitimate. Since then, many more have been formulated, but the main themes and ideas have remained. African traditional institutions continue to exist in most African countries, albeit at different levels of adherence by the populations of the continent. Most of the regions states were defined geographically by European cartographers at the start of the colonial period. However, there are customs and various arrangements that restrain their power. Figure 1 captures this turn to authoritarianism in postindependence Africa. In this respect, they complement official courts that are often unable to provide court services to all their rural communities. A third objective is to examine the relevance of traditional institutions. Note that Maine and . African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. These partners, for their part, sometimes disengaged from close political ties and often brought new governance conditions into their assistance programs. In the postcolonial era, their roles changed again. 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. 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. 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 same technology vectors can also empower criminal, trafficking, and terrorist networks, all of which pose threats to state sovereignty. Today, the five most common government systems include democracy, republic, monarchy, communism and . 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. 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. African political elites are more determined than ever to shape their own destiny, and they are doing so. 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 . 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. The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. Democratic and dictatorial regimes both vest their authority in one person or a few individuals. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. With respect to their relevance, traditional institutions remain indispensable for several reasons. Another basic question is, whom to include? 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. 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. Both can be identified as forms of governance. Wise leadership respects ethnic diversity and works toward inclusive policies. A second conflict pattern can develop along the lines of ethnic cleavages which can be readily politicized and then militarized into outright ethnic violence. Examine the definitions, strengths, and weaknesses of several common governments: monarchy, theocracy . As Mamdani has argued, understanding the role of traditional leadership and customary law in contemporary African societies requires us to understand its history. What sets Hoover apart from all other policy organizations is its status as a center of scholarly excellence, its locus as a forum of scholarly discussion of public policy, and its ability to bring the conclusions of this scholarship to a public audience. 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. 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. Decision making is generally participatory and often consensus-based. They are already governing much of rural Africa. Since institutional fragmentation is a major obstacle to nation-building and democratization, it is imperative that African countries address it and forge institutional harmony. 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). There was a lot of consultation between the elders before any major decision was made. The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. 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. President Muhammadu Buhari is currently the federal head of state and government. However, three countries, Botswana, Somaliland, and South Africa, have undertaken differing measures with varying levels of success. As a United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) study (2007) notes, traditional leaders often operate as custodians of customary law and communal assets, especially land. Perhaps a more realistic transitional approach would be to reconcile the parallel institutions while simultaneously pursuing policies that transform traditional economic systems. Following decolonization, several African countries attempted to abolish aspects of the traditional institutional systems. 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. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. 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. For example, the electoral college forces a republic type of voting system. Tribe Versus Ethnic Group. The terms Afrocentrism, Afrocology, and Afrocentricity were coined in the 1980s by the African American scholar and activist Molefi Asante. The selection, however, is often from the children of a chief. Because these governmental institutions reject the indigenous political systems on which African society was built, they have generally failed to bring political . As a result, they are not dispensable as long as the traditional economic systems endure. media system, was concerned with the more systematized dissemination of information between the traditional administrative organ and the people (subjects). Introduction. Interestingly, small and mid-size state leaders have won the award so far.) African Traditional Political System and Institution: University of The Gambia, Faculty of humanities and social sciences. 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. However, they do not have custodianship of land and they generally do not dispense justice on their own. Traditional African religions are not stagnant but highly dynamic and constantly reacting to various shifting influences such as old age, modernity, and technological advances. The kings and chiefs of Angola and Asante, for example, allowed European merchants to send their representatives to their courts.