The colonial system constitutes the second section. Yet, the traditional judicial system in most cases operates outside of the states institutional framework. The council system of the Berbers in Northern Africa also falls within this category (UNECA, 2007). Understanding the Gadaa System. Against this backdrop, where is African governance headed? 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. 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. This chapter examines traditional leadership within the context of the emerging constitutional democracy in Ghana. Differences and Similarities Between a Democracy and a Republic Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics. Issues of corruption and transparency are likely to become driving themes in African politics. Our data indicate that traditional leaders, chiefs and elders clearly still play an important role in the lives FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT. Institutional dichotomy also seems to be a characteristic of transitional societies, which are between modes of production. Unlike the laws of the state, traditional institutions rarely have the coercive powers to enforce their customary laws. South Africas strategy revolves around recognition of customary law when it does not conflict with the constitution and involves traditional authorities in local governance. The Boundaries of Tradition: An Examination of the Traditional 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 . 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. Many other countries have non-centralized elder-based traditional institutions. The implementation of these systems often . The size and intensity of adherence to the traditional economic and institutional systems, however, vary from country to country. In traditional African communities, it was not possible to distinguish between religious and non-religious areas of life. The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (Alkire, Chatterjee, Conconi, Seth, & Vaz, 2014) estimates that the share of rural poverty to total poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is about 73.8%. Should inclusion be an ongoing process or a single event? Admittedly, the problem is by no means uniquely African, but it is very commonly experienced in Africa. 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. They dispense justice, resolve conflicts, and enforce contracts, even though such services are conducted in different ways in different authority systems. This short article does not attempt to provide answers to all these questions, which require extensive empirical study. 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. 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. African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. They are well known, among others, for their advancement of an indigenous democratic process known as Gadaa. Leaders may not be the only ones who support this definition of legitimacy. Galizzi, Paolo and Abotsi, Ernest K., Traditional Institutions and Governance in Modern African Democracies (May 9, 2011). Government and Political Systems. Its lack of influence on policy also leads to its marginalization in accessing resources and public services, resulting in poverty, poor knowledge, and a poor information base, which, in turn, limits its ability to exert influence on policy. Finally, the chapter considers the future of the institution against the background of the many issues and challenges considered. 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. Features/Characteristics Of Government - 2022 - StopLearn However, there are customs and various arrangements that restrain their power. In most African countries, constitutionally established authorities exercise the power of government alongside traditional authorities. Each of these societies had a system of government. 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. There was a lot of consultation between the elders before any major decision was made. 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). (2005), customary systems operating outside of the state regime are often the dominant form of regulation and dispute resolution, covering up to 90% of the population in parts of Africa. 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. The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. Hoover scholars offer analysis of current policy challenges and provide solutions on how America can advance freedom, peace, and prosperity. 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. 1. 79 (3), (1995) pp. Some African nations are prosperous while others struggle. In this paper, I look first at the emergence of the African state system historically, including colonial legacies and the Cold Wars impact on governance dynamics. As a result, it becomes highly complex to analyze their roles and structures without specifying the time frame. 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. Government acknowledges the critical role of traditional leadership institutions in South Africa's constitutional democracy and in communities, particularly in relation to the Rural . Perhaps a more realistic transitional approach would be to reconcile the parallel institutions while simultaneously pursuing policies that transform traditional economic systems. Ancient West Africa: Bantu Migrations & the Stateless Society But African societies are exposed to especially severe pressures, and governments must operate in an environment of high social demands and limited resources and capacity with which to meet them. The most promising pattern is adaptive resilience in which leaders facing such pressures create safety valves or outlets for managing social unrest. African political systems are described in a number of textbooks and general books on African history. The government system is a republic; the chief of state and head of government is the president. The Dutch dispatched an embassy to the Asantehene's . 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". The evidence suggests that traditional institutions have continued to metamorphose under the postcolonial state, as Africas socioeconomic systems continue to evolve. His dramatic tenure since April of 2018 appears to be shaking up the states creaky authoritarian services and creating the space for important adaptations such as ending a long-standing state of emergency, freeing political prisoners, reaching out to a wide range of foreign partners, and extending the olive branch to Eritrea with whom Ethiopia had fought a costly war. 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. To illustrate, when there are 2.2 billion Africans, 50% of whom live in cities, how will those cities (and surrounding countryside) be governed? Both can be identified as forms of governance. Features of Yoruba Pre colonial Administration - Bscholarly Key Takeaways. Relevance of African traditional institutions of Governance The earliest known recorded history arose in Ancient Egypt . 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. 15 Facts on African Religions The Interfaith Observer This layer of institutions is the subject of inquiry of this article. The Political History of Africa: The Pre-Colonial Era - African This fragmentation is also unlikely to go away anytime soon on its own. Allocation of resources, such as land, is also much more egalitarian under the traditional system than it is under the private ownership system in the formal state system. Large countries such as the DRC, Ethiopia, and Mozambique are likely to experience pressures against centralized, authoritarian, or one-party governance (whether accompanied by real elections or not). 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. One snapshot by the influential Mo Ibrahim index of African Governance noted in 2015 that overall governance progress in Africa is stalling, and decided not to award a leadership award that year. Greater access to public services and to productivity-enhancing technology would also help in enhancing the transformation of the subsistence sector. The formal institutions of checks and balances and accountability of leaders to the population are rather weak in this system. 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. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. 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). PDF African Governance Systems in the Pre and Post-Independence Periods eLimu | Political developments and systems . One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. Government as a Structural Element of Society 2.2. Many others choose the customary laws and conflict resolution mechanisms because they correspond better to their way of life. Integration of traditional and modern governance systems in Africa. The quality and durability of such leader-defined adaptive resilience cannot be assured and can be reversed unless the associated norms become institutionalized. Government: A Multifarious Concept 1.2. 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. 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 . America's flawed democracy: the five key areas where it - The Guardian 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. 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 . Afrocentrism | Definition, Examples, History, Beliefs, & Facts Form of State: Federal, Unitary or - Jerusalem Center for Public 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. On the one hand, they recognize the need for strong, responsive state institutions; weak, fragile states do not lead to good governance. Wise leadership respects ethnic diversity and works toward inclusive policies. African Traditional Political Systems and Intitutions - Academia.edu 1995 focuses on social, economic, and intellectual trends up to the end of the colonial era. These include - murder, burglary, landcase, witchcraft, profaning the deities and homicide. Council of elders: These systems essentially operate on consensual decision-making arrangements that vary from one place to another. Governance: Why democracy is failing in Africa - GhanaWeb Indications are, however, that the more centralized the system is, the lower the accountability and popular participation in decision making. 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. 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. In this view, nations fail because of extractive economic and political institutions that do not provide incentives for growth and stability. What Are the Weaknesses of Traditional Security Systems? Others choose the traditional institutions, for example, in settling disputes because of lower transactional costs. 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. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. Traditional and informal justice systems aim at restoring social cohesion within the community by promoting reconciliation between disputing parties. Public Administration and Traditional Administrative System in Africa In addition, resolution needs to be acceptable to all parties. The initial constitutions and legal systems were derived from the terminal colonial era. More frequently, this form of rule operates at the sub-state level as in the case of the emir of Kano or the Sultan of Sokoto in Nigeria or the former royal establishments of the Baganda (Uganda) or the Ashanti (Ghana). 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. The endurance of traditional institutions entails complex and paradoxical implications for contemporary Africas governance. 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. 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 . By 2016, 35 AU members had joined it, but less than half actually subjected themselves to being assessed. 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. 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. Types of government practiced in Nigeria, from monarchy to democracy What policies and laws will determine relations between farmers and urban dwellers, between farmers and herders, between diverse identity groups living in close proximity or encroaching on each others farm land, and between public officials, criminal networks and ordinary citizens? 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. Paramount chieftaincy as a system of local government Perhaps one of the most serious shared weakness relates to gender relations. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. Basing key political decisions on broad societal and inter-party consensus may help to de-escalate cutthroat competition that often leads to violent conflicts. The imperative for inclusion raises many questions: should the priority be to achieve inclusion of diverse elites, of ethnic and confessional constituencies, of a sample of grass roots opinion leaders? Learn more about joining the community of supporters and scholars working together to advance Hoovers mission and values. Of the latter, 10 achieved the top rating of free, a conclusion close to ratings by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).9 A more bullish reading drawn again from multiple sources is that over 60% of people in sub-Saharan Africa live in free or partly free countries, a situation that enabled a Brookings Institution study to conclude that the region [is] moving in fits and starts towards greater democratic consolidation.10 Countries absent from the apparent democratic wave missed its beginnings in the early and mid-1990s, became caught up in protracted or recurrent civil conflicts, or degenerated as a result of electoral violence or big men patrimonialism. Institutions represent an enduring collection of formal laws and informal rules, customs, codes of conduct, and organized practices that shape human behavior and interaction. The role of chieftaincy within post-colonial African countries continues to incite lively debates, as the case of Ghana exemplifies. Types of Government in Africa - Synonym However, three countries, Botswana, Somaliland, and South Africa, have undertaken differing measures with varying levels of success. This principle is particularly relevant for diversity management, nation-building, and democratization in contemporary Africa. As a result, they are not dispensable as long as the traditional economic systems endure. This approach to governance was prominent in the Oyo empire. TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT - Modish Project There are several types of government that are traditionally instituted around the world. Three layers of institutions characterize most African countries. These partners, for their part, sometimes disengaged from close political ties and often brought new governance conditions into their assistance programs. It may be good to note, as a preliminary, that African political systems of the past dis played considerable variety. Module Ten, Activity Two - Exploring Africa Because these governmental institutions reject the indigenous political systems on which African society was built, they have generally failed to bring political . A second conflict pattern can develop along the lines of ethnic cleavages which can be readily politicized and then militarized into outright ethnic violence. 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. Despite the adoption of constitutional term limits in many African countries during the 1990s, such restrictions have been reversed or defied in at least 15 countries since 2000, according to a recent report.6, The conflict-governance link takes various forms, and it points to the centrality of the variable of leadership. Figure 1 captures this turn to authoritarianism in postindependence Africa. The result is transitory resilience of the regime, but shaky political stability, declining cohesion, and eventual conflict or violent change. Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers. Seeming preference for Democracy in Africa over other governance systems in Africa before and after independence 15-17 1.5. Examine the definitions, strengths, and weaknesses of several common governments: monarchy, theocracy . The African Charter: A Printed Futility or a Reflection of Human Rights Some African leaders such as Ghanas Jerry Rawlings, Zambias Kenneth Kaunda, or Mozambiques Joachim Chissano accept and respect term limits and stand down. Certain offences were regarded as serious offences. 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. Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. Some regimes seem resilient because of their apparent staying power but actually have a narrow base of (typically ethnic or regional) support. Most of the states that had attempted to abolish chieftaincy have retracted the abolitionist decrees and reinstated chiefs. Competing land rights laws, for instance, often lead to appropriations by the state of land customarily held by communities, triggering various land-related conflicts in much of Africa, especially in areas where population growth and environmental degradation have led to land scarcity. You cant impose middle class values on a pre-industrial society.13. Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University. 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. Institutions represent an enduring collection of formal laws and informal rules, customs, codes of conduct, and organized practices that shape human behavior and interaction. Why the traditional systems endure, how the institutional dichotomy impacts the process of building democratic governance, and how the problems of institutional incoherence might be mitigated are issues that have not yet received adequate attention in African studies. Furthermore, for generations, Africans were taught the Western notion of the tribe as . To complicate matters further, the role of traditional institutions is likely to be critical in addressing the problem of institutional fragmentation. However, the traditional judicial system has some weaknesses, especially with respect to gender equality. 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. However, they do not have custodianship of land and they generally do not dispense justice on their own. 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. The Alafin as the political head of the empire was . 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. These circumstances can generate an authoritarian reflex and the temptation to circle the wagons against all sources of potential opposition. Freedom House calculated that 17 out of 50 countries it covered were free or partly free in 1988, compared to 31 out of 54 countries in these categories by 2015. The Aqils (elders) of Somalia and the chiefs in Kenya are good examples. Introduction: The Meaning of the Concept Government 1.1. 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. Traditional Governance Systems - Participedia Challenges confronting the institution of chieftaincy have continued from the colonial era into recent times. List of African Union member states by political system