Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper is concerned with the theoretical analysis of the legitimacy challenges faced by the federalist structure of the Somali state, as established with the 2012 constitution. Understanding federalism in Somalia, I argue, is not a simple question of political power distribution: there is also a dichotomy between a predominant European-based conceptualisation of the state and the bulk of often-neglected Somali notions of communitarian organisation, to which the clan is a part. If the decentralised structure of clans in Somali tradition seems to realise a certain convergence with the current federalist project, the dichotomy is rather evident when it comes to the definition of ‘(civil) society’ in Somalia. Thus, in order to assess both the progression of the federalist project, more than four years after its launch, and the factual legitimacy it holds among the Somali population, this paper will focus on the complex relation between state and citizens.
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