PIA 2574 African Development Seminar: Conflict, Governance and Development

State Crisis in Africa The Failure of the African State

The Current Image

The Ivory Coast Model: Triumph and Tragedy Geography and Ethnicity North- Muslim, Mande; South: East, Akan, Christian; West, Kru, links with Liberia and Guinea The Ivory Coast Miracle The death of the Founding President: Felix Houphouet Boigny

Tragedy in West Africa New York Times: The next “state collapse in Africa” Ivory Coast- Has it? Ghana’s North? Assassination and tension in Dagbon The next Crisis can happen anywhere

Ghana Martin Staniland, The Lions of Dagbon: Political Change in Northern Ghana (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975)

Ethnicity, Class and Religion Theories of Ethnicity: Review Primordialism Ethnicity and Religion cultural sub-nationalism

Ethnicity, Class and Religion Contextual- intensification of ethnic identity- and the reverse Ethnicity as Nationalism Ethnicity and Class

Somali Refugees

Irrelevance of Ideology African regimes regardless of ideology are state centric Skimmed public resources Extensive corruption

Irrelevance of Ideology Patriarchal leadership Organizational elites Collapse of the social contract with the state centered middle class

Meet the Sgwentu family. From left to right, they are Boy, Evelyn, Sipho, Nonswakazi, Teresa (my wife, or Auntie T as they call her), and Thania. They are a new breed of South African – the middle-class black South African

Social Reaction: The Exit Strategy Praetorian Government Recognize the empirical reality of dependency theory Structural Adjustment’s impact

Zulu Clan- Early 20 th Century

Social Reaction: The Exit Strategy Economy of Affection Impact of reform on education and health- decline and fall of rural area Absence of an effective private and non- profit sector: Failure of Civil Society

Social Reaction: The Exit Strategy Exit, Voice and Loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970)

Albert O. Hirschaman, Born 1915

Africa’s Reality Breakdown of Governance Corruption Military Coups and Authoritarianism Self Serving Bureaucrats Bureaucratic Elites State Debt

Above all the problem of the Zero-Sum Game. The Inability to Compromise

Military Intervention: narrow, ethnic interests or military regimes, 1970s- 1990s Uganda: Obote, Amin and Museveni Zaire: Mobutu and “Big Manism” Somalia, Ethiopia: Totalitarianism and Anarchy Liberia and Sierra Leone: militarized ethnicity and Child Soldiers

Uganda Letter

Uganda Letter Page 2

The Viability of Colonial Borders System collapse in central Africa, Invading armies: Uganda, Rwanda, Namibia and Zimbabwe 5.4 Million Deaths in Congo. Africa’s World War

Congo

Collapse of the African International System Lack of interest of international community Civil War-Violence, Inter-state Conflict and African Development Libya- Only concern: The Oil?

Abandonment of Africa by the international community Problem of “race” and racial sensitivity Perception of “primordial tribalism” in Africa- Violence and starvation since independence Donor fatigue: Debt and the End of the Cold War Foreigners as Invaders: “Tarzan [is still] an Expatriate?”

International Community?

The Failure of Institutional Development Problem of Inherited Institutions Mobilization- High, Institutionalization Low Failure of political institutions Military- failure to contain political demands

The importance of political institutions Rules and processes (formal and informal) are essential

The Institutional State Institutionalized Norms and Rules Diverse and Representative Civil Society Stable Government Structures Muted Cultural Differences

Elinor Ostrom

Rules and Institutions Balance between mobilization and political institutions Samuel P. Huntington

The Institutional State Decentralized (Devolved) Government Structures Effective Permanent Government (The Administrative Apparatus) Middle Class Social Compact Incorporate Traditional Governance

Democracy?

At Issue Primacy of democratic governance or “contained political structures” Discussion: Is this important?

Traditional Elites Inherited States failed to deal with Traditional Leadership Continuing Influence of Traditional Elites regardless of formal standing and regime type

Zimbabwe Traditional Leaders

Traditional Leadership in Tanzania Tanzania Abolishes Chiefs in 1960s Study of Political Party Activists (Norman Miller) Many activists are former traditional elites or relatives of chiefs and sub-chiefs

Traditional Leadership in Tanzania Informally the Party remained highly dependent upon traditional leaders on an informal basis Traditional political values still socialize people (both in urban and rural areas) Party informally accepts traditional roles as long as it give loyalty to the party

Tanganyika Chiefs 1961

How Chiefs Influence Governance Continued influence and high status of those who hold “tribal” authority (Dyarchy) Presence in high political and administrative positions of those who are descendents or relatives of traditional leaders Status without official sanction but consists of party functionaries or bureaucrats

Forms of Traditional Influence on Local Level Governance Full Meetings (Town Hall Style) Consensus by Direct Democracy Pure Traditional Representation- Traditional Councils (Appointed) Partial- Councils which are half elected and half traditional

Forms of Traditional Influence on Local Level Governance Technical and Deconcentrated Boards. Department heads and Traditional Representatives Specialized through the Traditional judicial Function Triangular-2 traditional, 2 elected councilors and two appointed by central government (eg. Land Boards)

GIS trainer Kent Burger with Tawana Land Board participants

Forms of Traditional Influence on Local Level Governance Bicameral- Traditional Elites represented in an Upper House Unicameral- Preserved Traditional Seats in Legislature Grassroots: Traditional Mechanisms of Governance at sub-district, area or village level

Zambia House of Chiefs

Rules and Institutions Adaptability rather than rigidity Complexity rather than simple Coherence rather than disunity Devolution and autonomy rather than subordinate state structures

South Africa 2008

Discussion: How can the African crisis be addressed? How do we assess the role of the media? Should CNN be banned in Africa? What argument do our authors make about the nature of the African crisis? Critique them What picture of Northern influence over African states does the reading give us?

Discussion: Case Studies Ake Loba, "A Justice of the Peace," in Mphahlele, African Writing Today, (Born, Ivory Coast, 1927) Cameron Duodu, “The Tax Dodger, in Larson, African Short Stories (Ghana Journalist, Born 1937))

Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, War in Uganda (Free Lance Journalists- Africa and Latin America)

Discussion- Books Nadine Gordimer, Burger’s Daughter Naguib Mahfouz, Adrift on the Nile Shiva Naipaul, North of South

Naguib Mahfouz,

Nadine Gordimer- Born 1923

Shiva Naipaul,

Discussion and Comments?