Invented chiefs and state-paid elders: These were chiefs imposed by the colonial state on decentralized communities without centralized authority systems. One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. 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. African conflict trends point to a complex picture, made more so by the differing methodologies used by different research groups. 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 . 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. Click here to get an answer to your question Discuss any similarities between the key features of the fourth republican democracy and the traditional afri The African state system has gradually developed a stronger indigenous quality only in the last twenty-five years or so. Posted: 12 May 2011. 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. 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. 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. At the same time, traditional institutions represent institutional fragmentation, which has detrimental effects on Africas governance and economic transformation. The features associated with this new form of governmental administration deal with smaller government responsibility for providing goods and services. They include: Monarchs (absolute or constitutional): While the colonial state reduced most African kings to chiefs, a few survived as monarchs. The Constitution states that the institution, status and roles of traditional leadership, according to customary law, are recognised. Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. In many cases European or Islamic legal traditions have replaced or significantly modified traditional African ones. Unlike the laws of the state, traditional institutions rarely have the coercive powers to enforce their customary laws. 2. The Obas and Caliphs of Nigeria and the Zulu of South Africa are other examples. 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. f Basic Features cont. Lawmaking: government makes laws to regulate the behavior of its citizens. 17-19 1.6. First, many of the conflicts enumerated take place within a limited number of conflict-affected countries and in clearly-defined geographic zones (the Sahel and Nigeria; Central Africa; and the Horn.) By Sulayman Sanneh Date: September 10th, 2021. fIntroduction Africa is a vast and . An analytical study and impact of colonialism on pre-colonial centralized and decentralized African Traditional and Political Systems. The US system has survived four years of a norm-busting president by the skin of its teeth - which areas need most urgent attention? The system of government in the traditional Yoruba society was partially centralised and highly democratic. Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers. Act,12 the African system of governance was changed and transformed, and new structures were put in place of old ones.13 Under the Union of South Africa, the Gov- 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). It considers the nature of the state in sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. Institutional dichotomy also seems to be a characteristic of transitional societies, which are between modes of production. the system even after independence. Government, Public Policy Performance, Types of Government. This can happen in several ways. Yet political stability cannot be based on state power alone, except in the short run. This we might call transformative resilience.21. The term covers the expressed commands of Even old-fashioned tyrants learn that inclusion or co-option are expensive. 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). 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 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. Although much has been lost in the shadows and fogs of a time before people created written accounts, historians . 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. However, at the lower level of the hierarchy of the centralized system, the difference between the centralized and decentralized systems tends to narrow notably. One layer represents the formal institutions (laws) of the state. 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. Some African leaders such as Ghanas Jerry Rawlings, Zambias Kenneth Kaunda, or Mozambiques Joachim Chissano accept and respect term limits and stand down. A Functional Approach to define Government 2. Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. To complicate matters further, the role of traditional institutions is likely to be critical in addressing the problem of institutional fragmentation. In traditional African communities, it was not possible to distinguish between religious and non-religious areas of life. African states, along with Asian, Middle Eastern, and even European governments, have all been affected. Towards a Definition of Government 1.3. Building an inclusive political system also raises the question of what levels of the society to include and how to assure that local communities as well as groups operating at the national level can get their voices heard. The pre-colonial system in Yoruba can be described to be democratic because of the inclusion of the principle of checks and balances that had been introduced in the system of administration. The role of traditional leaders in modern Africa, especially in modern African democracies, is complex and multifaceted. 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. A partial explanation as to why the traditional systems endure was given in the section Why African Traditional Institutions Endure. The argument in that section was that they endure primarily because they are compatible with traditional economic systems, under which large segments of the African population still operate. The political history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans andat least 200,000 years agoanatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. A third, less often recognized base of legitimacy can be called conventional African diplomatic legitimacy wherein a governmenthowever imperfectly establishedis no more imperfect than the standard established by its regional neighbors. African governance trends were transformed by the geopolitical changes that came with the end of the Cold War. 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. Others choose the traditional institutions, for example, in settling disputes because of lower transactional costs. This approach to governance was prominent in the Oyo empire. Furthermore, for generations, Africans were taught the Western notion of the tribe as . 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. 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. Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. 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. Another issue that needs some clarification is the neglect by the literature of the traditional institutions of the political systems without centralized authority structures. 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 are several types of government systems in African politics: in an absolute monarchy, the head of state and head of government is a monarch with unlimited legal authority,; in a constitutional monarchy, the monarch is a ceremonial figurehead who has few political competences,; in a presidential system, the president is the head of state and head of government, 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 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. Additionally, inequalities between parallel socioeconomic spaces, especially with respect to influence on policy, hinder a democratic system, which requires equitable representation and inclusive participation. Additionally, the transaction costs for services provided by the traditional institutions are much lower than the services provided by the state. FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT. Second, the levels of direct battle deaths from these events is relatively low when compared with far higher levels in the wars of the Middle East. 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.