Statism and the Growth of Authoritarianism in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Statism or Realism proffers that the State is the main actor in politics, and, therefore, the Referent Object. This belief appears to be the predominate basis of governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, despite the region’s efforts towards mainstreaming democratic principles in governance. There are several other progressive schools of thought that inure society with authority superior to that of the State on the basis of Rule of law. The resulting polarity of power presents problems for aligning State Security influenced by realist securitization theories and Societal Security influenced by the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report since 1994 and the Welsh School of Security Studies. In this analytical, correctional research approach, I will show that the States seem to apply mechanical and substantive modalities through authoritarian control over society, since the State is the sole provider of security, making the citizens less significant in the eyes of the ruling elite, Security Forces and Police Services with delegated State powers. Although the Constitutional frameworks of the common law, English Language speaking nations in Africa provide that sovereignty emanates from the citizens and, therefore, the repository and custodians of all laws, the concept of Statism or Realism ignores such provisions analytically, legislatively and constructively. There is considerable disregard for the citizens as the custodians of power which has led the State to create National Security institutions, backed by legislation and public policy, whose primary pre-occupations are the rendition of protective and intelligence services to perpetuate the regime’s control over the citizens. There are also researchers and political scientists that seem to legitimize the emasculation of the larger members of Society, since they are deemed as part of the existential and imminent threats to State power. The history of democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa provides to date, blatant lack of the Rule of Law, Justice and Equal Protections, where citizens compete against the State interests. This introductory study contextually teases out from the literature on security studies, the thrust of the Copenhagen and the Welsh School’s approaches towards governance; to demonstrate that, the pursuit of authoritarian rule in Africa is rather a deviation from both Schools of Security Studies, with recommendations for change towards a more measurable deliverables of the Human Development Report of 1994 and its progeny of progressive international development policies.