features of traditional african system of government

African Governance: Challenges and Their Implications 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. for a democratic system of government. There were several reasons for such measures. Wise leadership respects ethnic diversity and works toward inclusive policies. 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. Poor gender relations: Traditional institutions share some common weaknesses. At the same time, traditional institutions represent institutional fragmentation, which has detrimental effects on Africas governance and economic transformation. The key . The express prohibition in the African Charter against discrimination according to ethnic group constitutes a major step for the continent as a whole because the realization of this right will lead to greater economic opportunity for those people not of the same kinship as the head of government. There are very few similarities between democracy and dictatorship. The swing against western norms was captured in an interview with Ugandas repeatedly re-elected president Yoweri Museveni who remarked How can you have structural adjustment without electricity? On the opposite side are the decentralized systems, led by a council of elders, that command little formal power. African governance trends were transformed by the geopolitical changes that came with the end of the Cold War. Government and Political Systems. These circumstances can generate an authoritarian reflex and the temptation to circle the wagons against all sources of potential opposition. Analysis here is thus limited to traditional authority systems under the postcolonial experience. The parallel institutional systems often complement each other in the continents contemporary governance. Their "rediscovery" in modern times has led to an important decolonization of local and community management in order to pursue genuine self-determination. 20-27, at p. 21; Carey N. Vicenti 'The re-emergence of tribal society and traditional justice systems' Judicature, Vol. Types of Government in Africa - Synonym 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. Ndlela (2007: 34) confirms that traditional leaders continue to enjoy their role and recognition in the new dispensation, just like in other African states; and Good (2002: 3) argues that the system of traditional leadership in Botswana exists parallel to the democratic system of government and the challenge is of forging unity. Throughout our over one-hundred-year history, our work has directly led to policies that have produced greater freedom, democracy, and opportunity in the United States and the world. The place and role of African Youth in Pre-independence African Governance Systems 19-20 1.7. This layer of institutions is the subject of inquiry of this article. Democracy, Monarchy and Dictatorship: Types of Government Systems Introduction. 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. A Sociology of Education for Africa . There is little doubt that colonial occupation and the ensuing restructuring of African political entities and socioeconomic systems altered African traditional institutions of governance. The third section looks at the critical role of political and economic inclusion in shaping peace and stability and points to some of the primary challenges leaders face in deciding how to manage inclusion: whom to include and how to pay for it. Following decolonization, several African countries attempted to abolish aspects of the traditional institutional systems. 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. On the other hand, weak or destructive governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. In any case, as . 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. Table 1 shows the proportion of the population that operates under traditional economic systems in selected African countries. It is too soon to tell whether such institutions can evolve in modern Africa as a result of gradual tinkering with reformist agendas, as the legacy of wise leaders; or whether they will only happen as a result of fundamental tests of strength between social and political groups. Paramount chiefs: Another category of leadership structure is that of hereditary paramount chieftaincy with various traditional titles and various levels of accountability. The result is transitory resilience of the regime, but shaky political stability, declining cohesion, and eventual conflict or violent change. Pre-colonial Administration of the Yorubas. South Africa has a mixed economy in which there is a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic . This kind of offences that attract capital punishment is usually . In this regard, the president is both the head of state and government, and there are three arms and tiers of rules by which the country is ruled. Oftentimes, however, they contradict each other, creating problems associated with institutional incoherence. 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. Overturning regimes in Africas often fragile states could become easier to do, without necessarily leading to better governance. Problems and Purpose. These communities select the Aba Gada, who serves a nonrenewable term of 8 years as leader. Ten years later, in 2017, the number of conflicts was 18, taking place in 13 different countries. African Style Democracy? - Public Seminar This is in part because the role of traditional leaders has changed over time. The abolishment of chieftaincy does not eradicate the systems broader underlying features, such as customary law, decision-making systems, and conflict resolution practices. Often women are excluded from participation in decision making, especially in patrilineal social systems. African Politics - Political Science - iResearchNet One influential research group, SIPRI in Sweden, counted a total of 9 active armed conflicts in 2017 (in all of Africa) plus another 7 post-conflict and potential conflict situations.3, More revealing is the granular comparison of conflict types over time. Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University. For example, is it more effective to negotiate a power-sharing pact among key parties and social groups (as in Kenya) or is there possible merit in a periodic national dialogue to address issues that risk triggering conflict? To complicate matters further, the role of traditional institutions is likely to be critical in addressing the problem of institutional fragmentation. But the context in which their choices are made is directly influenced by global political trends and the room for maneuver that these give to individual governments and their leaders. Nation, Tribe and Ethnic Group in Africa | Cultural Survival This we might call transformative resilience.21. Many other countries have non-centralized elder-based traditional institutions. In Sierra Leone, paramount chiefs are community leaders and their tasks involve - among others - protecting community safety and resolving disputes. Land privatization is, thus, unworkable in pastoral communities, as communal land ownership would be unworkable in a capitalist economy. 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%. An election bound to be held in the year 2019 will unveil the new . This enhanced his authority. A look at the economic systems of the adherents of the two institutional systems also gives a good indication of the relations between economic and institutional systems. With respect to their relevance, traditional institutions remain indispensable for several reasons. Space opened up for African citizens and civil society movements, while incumbent regimes were no longer able to rely on assured support from erstwhile external partners. Botswanas strategy has largely revolved around integrating parallel judicial systems. Differences and Similarities Between a Democracy and a Republic . Oromos are one of the largest ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa belonging to the Cushitic-speaking peoples in Northeastern Africa in general and in modern Ethiopia and Kenya in particular. Less than 20% of Africa's states achieved statehood following rebellion or armed insurgency; in the others, independence flowed from . 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. The colonial state modified their precolonial roles. eLimu | Political developments and systems African traditional institutions continue to exist in most African countries, albeit at different levels of adherence by the populations of the continent. Unfortunately, little attention by African governments has been given to this paradoxical aspect of traditional institutions. In the past decade, traditional security systems utilized in commercial or government facilities have consisted of a few basic elements: a well-trained personnel, a CCTV system, and some kind of access control system. The colonial state, for example, invented chiefs where there were no centralized authority systems and imposed them on the decentralized traditional systems, as among the Ibo of Eastern Nigeria, the Tonga in Zambia, various communities in Kenya, and the communities in Somalia. 17-19 1.6. 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. 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. 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. Hoover Education Success Initiative | The Papers. The same factors that hinder nation-building hinder democratization. Political leaders everywhere face competing demands in this regard. They dispense justice, resolve conflicts, and enforce contracts, even though such services are conducted in different ways in different authority systems. For example, the electoral college forces a republic type of voting system. All life was religious . Nonhereditary selected leaders with constitutional power: A good example of this is the Gada system of the Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya. The traditional Africa system of government is open and inclusive, where strangers, foreigners and even slaves could participate in the decision-making process. Greater access to public services and to productivity-enhancing technology would also help in enhancing the transformation of the subsistence sector. Traditional leadership in South Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems of governance and was the main known system of governance amongst indigenous people. not because of, the unique features of US democracy . Access to Justice In Sub-Saharan Africa: Role of Traditional and Customary law, for example, does not protect communities from violations of their customary land rights through land-taking by the state. Discuss any similarities between the key features of the fourth In many cases, the invented chieftaincies were unsuccessful in displacing the consensus-based governance structures (Gartrell, 1983; Uwazie, 1994). 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 . Hindrance to democratization: Perhaps among the most important challenges institutional fragmentation poses is to the process of democratization. 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). In many tribes, the chief was the representative of the ancestors. 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. Misguided policies at the national level combined with cultural constraints facing these social groups may increase exclusion and create seeds of future trouble. Most of the regions states were defined geographically by European cartographers at the start of the colonial period. 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 leaders in this system have significant powers, as they often are custodians of their communitys land and they dispense justice in their courts. They include: Monarchs (absolute or constitutional): While the colonial state reduced most African kings to chiefs, a few survived as monarchs. Abstract. African countries are characterized by fragmentation of various aspects of their political economy, including their institutions of governance. This principle is particularly relevant for diversity management, nation-building, and democratization in contemporary Africa. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. This proposal will be subject to a referendum on the constitutional changes required.16.2e 2.4 Traditional leadership Traditional leaders are accorded 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. Governance: Why democracy is failing in Africa - GhanaWeb Judicial marginalization: Another challenge posed by institutional fragmentation relates to marginalization of the traditional system within the formal legal system. As Mamdani has argued, understanding the role of traditional leadership and customary law in contemporary African societies requires us to understand its history. 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. media system, was concerned with the more systematized dissemination of information between the traditional administrative organ and the people (subjects). Such post-electoral pacts reflect the conclusion that stability is more important than democracy. In African-style democracy the rule of law is only applicable to ordinary people unconnected to the governing party leadership or leader. 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). 28, (1984) pp. Large states and those with complex ethnic and geographic featurese.g., the DRC, Nigeria, Uganda, the Sudans, Ethiopiamay be especially prone to such multi-sourced violence. . 7 Main Features of a Traditional Society - Sociology Discussion 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? Music is a form of communication and it plays a functional role in African society . Additionally, inequalities between parallel socioeconomic spaces, especially with respect to influence on policy, hinder a democratic system, which requires equitable representation and inclusive participation. In Ghana, for example, local governance is an area where traditional leadership and the constitutional government sometimes lock horns. Traditional leaders often feel left out when the government takes decisions affecting their people and land without their consent or involvement. 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. 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. 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. PDF The role and importance of the institution of traditional leadership in Poor leadership can result in acts of commission or omission that alienate or disenfranchise geographically distinct communities. 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. Consequently, national and regional governance factors interact continuously. Features/Characteristics Of Government - 2022 - StopLearn This page was processed by aws-apollo-l2 in 0.093 seconds, Using these links will ensure access to this page indefinitely. Before delving into the inquiry, clarification of some issues would be helpful in avoiding confusion. Leaders may not be the only ones who support this definition of legitimacy. Impact of Historical Origins of African State System2. Less than 20% of Africas states achieved statehood following rebellion or armed insurgency; in the others, independence flowed from peaceful transfers of authority from colonial officials to African political elites. 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. "Law" in traditional Igbo and other African societies assumes a wide dimension and should be understood, interpreted, and applied as such, even if such a definition conflicts with the Western idea. On the one side, there are the centralized systems where leaders command near absolute power. What Is a Command Economy? - The Balance Traditional institutions have continued to metamorphose under the postcolonial state, as Africas socioeconomic systems continue to evolve. 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. THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN CUSTOMARY LAW, Fenrich, Galizzi, Higgins, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2011, Available at SSRN: If you need immediate assistance, call 877-SSRNHelp (877 777 6435) in the United States, or +1 212 448 2500 outside of the United States, 8:30AM to 6:00PM U.S. Eastern, Monday - Friday. Posted: 12 May 2011. However, the traditional modes of production and the institutional systems associated with them also remain entrenched among large segments of the population. 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. It then analyzes the implications of the dual allegiance of the citizenry to chiefs and the government. The term covers the expressed commands of Traditional Institutions and Governance in Modern African - SSRN Furthermore, for generations, Africans were taught the Western notion of the tribe as . As noted, there are notable differences in the authority systems of African traditional institutions. 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. PDF Traditional Systems of Communication in Nigeria Because these governmental institutions reject the indigenous political systems on which African society was built, they have generally failed to bring political . In Botswana, for example, the consensual decision-making process in the kgotla (public meeting) regulates the power of the chiefs. Beyond the traditional sector, traditional institutions also have important attributes that can benefit formal institutions. In this view, nations fail because of extractive economic and political institutions that do not provide incentives for growth and stability. 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. 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, (PDF) INDIGENOUS AFRICAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS - Academia.edu 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. Executive, legislative, and judicial functions are generally attributed by most modern African constitutions to presidents and prime ministers, parliaments, and modern judiciaries. A Functional Approach to define Government 2. PDF African Traditional Justice Systems Francis Kariuki* 1.1 Introduction Command economies, as opposed to free-market economies, do not allow market forces like supply and demand to determine production or prices. The chapter further examines the dabbling of traditional leaders in the political process in spite of the proscription of the institution from mainstream politics and, in this context, analyzes the policy rationale for attempting to detach chieftaincy from partisan politics. 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 .

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