Traditional institutions in contemporary African governance

Kidane Mengisteab, Gerard Hagg

Research output: Book/ReportBook

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most African economies range from moderately advanced capitalist systems with modern banks and stock markets to peasant and pastoral subsistent systems. Most African countries are also characterized by parallel institutions of governance - one is the state sanctioned (formal) system and the other is the traditional system, which is adhered to, primarily but not exclusively, by the segments of the population in the subsistence peasant and pastoral economic systems. Traditional Institutions in Contemporary African Governance examines critical issues that are largely neglected in the literature, including why traditional institutions have remained entrenched, what the socioeconomic implications of fragmented institutional systems are, and whether they facilitate or impede democratization. The contributors investigate the organizational structure of traditional leadership, the level of adherence of the traditional systems, how dispute resolution, decision-making, and resource allocation are conducted in the traditional system, gender relations in the traditional system, and how the traditional institutions interact with the formal institutions. Filling a conspicuous gap in the literature on African governance, this book will be of great interest to policy makers as well as students and scholars of African politics, political economy and democratization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
PublisherTaylor and Francis Inc.
Number of pages235
ISBN (Electronic)9781315227948
ISBN (Print)9781138714892
DOIs
StatePublished - May 25 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Social Sciences

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Traditional institutions in contemporary African governance'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this