Neo-patrimonial Governance Research Articles

Center-Region Relations and Neo-Patrimonial Governance in Russia: A Tale of Two Regions

Abstract Center-region relations in Russia experienced several zigzags in the process of consolidation of the central control over the regions, influenced by a complex interplay between formal and informal institutions and practices. Through the lenses of neo- patrimonialism, the study explores the challenges Russian governors face in the process of consolidation of their personal power at the regional level. Drawing on empirical research conducted in Sverdlovsk and Perm Krai, the study contends that, despite the establishment of the so-called ‘power vertical’, the neo-patrimonial equilibrium in Russia is marked by multiple tensions. In this system, personal style and skills, the constellation of actors at the central and regional levels, and the horizontal interaction between networks play an important role, making center-region relations more dynamic and complex. Hence the hierarchical model of territorial control appears less stable and predictable in the long run.

Democratisation and Social Conflict in Timor-Leste: A Not So Great Transformation

The idea of democratic state-building constituted the basis of the peace promotion engagement of the United Nations and other international agencies in Timor-Leste. Yet, this process of internationally assisted socio-political reconstruction has produced mixed results in terms of achieving a liberal democratic transformation. In accounting for these outcomes, the existing scholarship highlights the ways in which the intensifying power struggles between different competing social groups gave rise to a socio-political order where clientelist, neo-patrimonial governance structures and practices co-exist with those of the Western Weberian state. This article draws on social conflict theory to examine the underlying political economy dynamics of these governance outcomes. It concludes that the process of socio-political ordering experienced in Timor-Leste is not a deviation from the liberal democratic blueprint. It rather results from it, reflects the balance of power between competing groups in society, and develops in such a way that serves the interests of particular social forces while marginalising others. Following from this premise, the article emphasises the point that the analysis of the political environment in Timor-Leste should consider the state-society complex rather than focusing on the quality of state institutions misguidedly insulated from societal interest and influence.

Protectors or enablers? Untangling the roles of traditional authorities and local elites in foreign land grabs in Cameroon

AbstractMotivationIn Cameroon, most land earmarked for allocation to foreign investors is communally owned. The state, however, considers such land as “empty” or “underutilized”—a faulty designation that confers upon the Cameroonian state and state representatives sweeping authority to allocate lands to potential investors without full consultation with communities whose livelihoods depend on them.PurposeThe article addresses the following questions: who are traditional authorities in the context of Cameroon? What is their place in the complex dynamics of neopatrimonial governance, and how does this influence their allegiance to state versus the people they ought to represent? How do they collaborate to enable state actions during land grabbing against their people?Methods and approachThe study is based on interviews, group discussions, and field observations conducted as part of a larger project on land grabbing in Cameroon; and supplemented with secondary sources through critical reading of published and unpublished scholarly and technical sources, including reports from national non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Nature Cameroon as well as Green Peace, the World Bank, and other bodies.FindingsIt argues that land grabbing in Cameroon should be understood as an outcome of the state’s strategic and/or opportunistic choice, within a neopatrimonial dispensation, to enforce its political power over land and related resources. Local traditional authorities paradoxically play the role of state facilitators in the process, rather than serving as custodians of the populations they represent.Policy implicationsThe article concludes that such pernicious land acquisition would not have been successful without the active collaboration of traditional authorities (so‐called state enablers) who act as “brokers” and facilitators of land deals—sometimes using threats, intimidation, and force on villagers. There is a need for policies to tackle the accountability problems arising from the ambivalent role that local traditional authorities play in Cameroon’s neopatrimonial order—doubly serving as de facto representatives of local peoples, and at the same time as proxy enablers of large‐scale land acquisition.

Does Federalism Matter in Africa?

The academic study of federalism is somewhat unfashionable in Africa, where formal institutions are often regarded as superficial, ephemeral and ineffective, while informal norms, networks, processes and practices are considered to be the real bedrock and substance of politics. Indeed, for decades, a “neo-patrimonial theoretical framework” or “institution-less school” has been the prevailing paradigm for analyzing African governance and politics (Cheeseman 2018, 10-12). As a concept, neo-patrimonialism focuses on the pathologies of personal, “big man” rule, corruption, predation, patron-client networks and other informal ruling mechanisms in Africa. African structures of personalist rule and relations, in this neo-patrimonial conceptual framework, have little or no place for formal federalist institutions of self-rule, shared rule, and limited rule. Consequently, federalism is often regarded as irrelevant, unviable, or invariably doomed to degradation, extinction, and administrative, fiscal, and political recentralization in Africa’s neo-patrimonial governance eco-system. “In short,” in the words of a leading scholar of decentralization in Africa, “federalism can hardly matter where [formal] institutions themselves have little import” (Dickovick 2012, 3).

Gentrification, tourism and the night-time economy in Budapest's district VII – the role of regulation in a post-socialist context

ABSTRACTThe processes of gentrification and tourism are often inextricably linked, but their relationship is not unequivocal: tourists can be explorers of stigmatised areas before gentrification or touristification can expel middle-class gentrifiers. In the post-socialist context, tourism and foreign consumers play an extremely important role in the gentrification process. This is especially true in our case study area the ‘party quarter’ in District VII of Budapest. The authors explore the inter-relationship between gentrification, tourism and the night-time economy in this area focusing on the effects of regulations and political struggles under post-socialist neo-patrimonial governance.

State of government accounting in Ghana and Benin: a “tentative” account

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the state of government accounting in Ghana and Benin using neo-patrimonial and organizational façade lenses.Design/methodology/approachThe study used two country case studies that engaged with stakeholders including donors, civil society, politicians, and civil servants. Semi-structured interviews were used as the main data collection technique, which were complemented by document analysis.FindingsThe study finds that government accounting reforms are decoupled and used in both countries as a façade which is caused, to a varying degree, by indigenous neo-patrimonial governance traits of informal institutions, patronage, and clientelism. And despite the relatively superior Ghanaian system, in terms of its functioning, compared to the Beninese, government accounting plays a more symbolic role in the former than in the latter.Originality/valueThis is one of the very few theoretically informed empirical studies that examine the state of government accounting in the two major African settings – Anglophone and Francophone. The results inform policies more tailored to indigenous governance issues for better outcomes.

Land Injustice, Impunity and State Collapse in Uganda: Causes, Consequences and Correctives

This report provides an overview and critical framework for the HURIPEC project on Land Governance, which comprised studies on the Northern, Central and Western regions, plus an analysis of the legal regime governing land in Uganda. The analysis in the report is based on two fundamental points of departure, first, that there is a deep land crisis in the country, and secondly that it is a crisis intricately connected to the structures and methods of governance introduced with the advent to power of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government led by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. As such, land has become an intricate component of the networks of patronage, nepotism and neo-patrimonial governance which have been instituted since 1986. It is also a critical ingredient of the wider socio-political matrix of economic reform predicated on privileging large expatriate capital and international finance. The major conclusion of the report is that unless the governance crisis is resolved, very little can be done to change the conditions of land mis-governance, impunity and institutional collapse which are but manifestations of the wider problem.

Challenges and opportunities for participatory planning approaches within Dubai’s urban context

Dubai has been in the midst of a profound physical transformation, radically affecting the lives of residents and newcomers. Within US and European models of planning, the rapid change Dubai is experiencing calls for public involvement in charting the city’s future. However, Dubai’s neo-patrimonial governance concentrates planning decisions into the hands of trusted elites, lacking public participation. How might a participatory approach to planning be successfully implemented in Dubai? First, this article applies Delphi to obtain experts’ knowledge about the feasibility of implementing a participatory planning approach in Dubai. Second, the first author interviewed government officials to identify constraints for implementing strategies intended to widen public participation. Last, recommendations for the implementation of a more transparent approach to planning are provided. The article concludes with questions that explore the challenges associated with participation in planning decision-making specifically for neo-patrimonial systems.

The African Sate Neo-patrimonial Governance in a “Democratic” South Africa

Policy studies demonstrate that reality is complex and is rarely matched by statements of intent. Inevitably, governance of a democratic political system necessarily involves a degree of incoherence. Rather than pioneer a new distinct epoch of African governance, the African National Congress-led (ANC-led) state merely legitimized continuities of Africa’s extraversion and transposition of the Westphalian state model. With regard to its continental reach, the ANC-led nation-state has appeared to emulate an “Empire”, a global capitalist neo-patrimonial state, which was simultaneously reconstituted at a global scale and ruled by proxy through the multilateral organs such as the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and the World Bank. These externalities, together with other ratings as one of the most corrupt states in the world, underscore the ANC-led democratic state’s failure to provide a dependable model of governance and state restructuring in Africa. Twenty years on, it has to be asked if the ANC-led state merely delivers the 54th failed state, reinforcing cultural determinism stereotypes of successive cohorts of African leaders being incapable of “good” governance? This article argues that the ANC-led democratic state too, has quickly deteriorated into a neo-patrimonial state. Just like in most of Africa, the state has increasingly being weakened whilst the governing regimes were made relatively stable, sometimes stronger. It concludes that increasingly the ANC-led neo-patrimonial state incorporates elements of personalized rule, elite subservience to the core and a shadow state, where differentiation between the public and private spheres of governance is disappearing. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p947

Neo-Patrimonialism, Rent-Seeking and Development: Going with the Grain?

This contribution summarises research conducted by the Africa Power and Politics Programme, which finds that contrary to standard policy advice, neo-patrimonial governance can under certain conditions be compatible with a growth-enhancing investment climate.

Public opinion as leadership disincentive: exploring a governance dilemma in the AIDS response in Africa

There is increasing emphasis in global declaration on the need to get politics right in the response to AIDS, particularly in terms of strengthening accountable leadership. However, in the worst affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such governance prescriptions introduce political concerns that are not well understood. In a context of the neo-patrimonial governance that characterises African democracies, the paper analyses data from the Afrobarometer on public opinions on AIDS in 20 countries to identify and explore the governance dilemma that leaders face when they are expected to show strong leadership on an issue that is low on the public political agenda. By identifying country-level correlates and individual-level determinants of the strong opinion on AIDS that is held by a minority, the paper suggests how public opinion for an effective response can be mobilised in ways that are politically sustainable.

Clashing Claims: Neopatrimonial Governance, Land Tenure Transformation, and Violence at Enoosupukia, Kenya

This article revisits a case of violent conflict at Enoosupukia, Kenya, in October 1993, that has previously been analyzed as a clear example of top-down, elite manipulation of neopatrimonial domination. Drawing on stories collected during more than eighteen months of fieldwork, I produce an ethnohistorical account of the interrelated processes of formal tenure change and informalization through which neopatrimonial governance of land was established at Enoosupukia. Focusing on the participation in and instrumental use of formal and informal institutions by the current inhabitants of the area, I argue that clients in neopatrimonial political systems are neither mere pawns nor passive victims, but rather active, even if often marginal, participants. Applying this framework to explaining the genesis of violent conflict at Enoosupukia, I show that violence was not produced through top-down incitement, but rather through a convergence of patron and client interests in the context of a significant shift in the networks through which rights in land are claimed, challenged, and protected. The point is not to shift the blame for violence from the elite to the marginalized, but rather to show that manipulation of disorder is multidimensional. Further, while clients may benefit from neopatrimonial connection to instruments of state power through elite patrons, they remain insecure and subject to disconnection. Thus the security of rights depends as much on maintenance of connection as reference to formal law. This paper shows that while neopatrimonial governance may “work,” it is fragile.

Oligarchic électoralisme et contestation politique: les dérives du néopatrimonialisme et de l'État philippin contemporain

The analysis of the Philippine state provides in-depth perspective in terms of both the typologies used and the breadth of the research conducted over the past 25 years. The establishment of the Marcos dictatorship in 1972 becomes the reference point for this multi-pronged analysis, with each subsequent regime compared to it. This period in Philippine history is often viewed as a quasi-caricatural extension of the political system which was widely entrenched during the American period (1898–1946). In this article, the author explores this wealth of literature from a unique standpoint, and explains the rise of a new form of neopatrimonialism manifested in the current oligarchic democracy of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's presidency, dating from 2001. The striking consistency across various forms of neopatrimonial governance is also analyzed, beginning with the period extending from independence to the Marcos era (1972–1986), and continuing through the more recent and unconventional Joseph Estrada presidency from 1998 to 2001, up to the current regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Developing Integral Governance and Economic Framework for Sub-Saharan Africa

The Integral Research Framework integrates research methods and methodologies via a four-world model - the Southern Relational Path, the Eastern Path of Renewal, the Northern Path of Reason and the Western Path of Realization. This model has been re-shaped into the Integral-Hybrid framework mainly applicable to most sub-Sahara African states and places the six governance indicators - political stability, rule of law, control of corruption, voice & accountability, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality into their appropriate paths. The model also defined neopatrimonial governance, good enough governance, and good governance in a somewhat different light. In the same vein, theories of economic growth and development are injected into a circular and dynamic integral framework. International-Dependency Revolution: Neoclassical-Dependency Model, False-Paradigm Model, and Dualistic-Development Thesis are Western created economic model but placed in the Humanistic South. Others in this path include the Romer Model, the Big Push Model and the Hausmann-Rodrik-Velasco Growth Diagnostic Decision Tree Framework. The Structural Change and Patterns of Development Model and the State-directed Development Approach are placed in the Holistic East. Lewis Theory of Development and Kremer's O-Ring Theory remained in Northern Rationalism. Rostow Stages of Growth; Harrod-Domer Growth Model; Statist Model - free-market, public choice, and market friendly approach; and Solow Neoclassical Growth Theory are plotted on the Pragmatic West. The Islamic Economic System is in the centre of the framework because of its dynamic balance which makes it to conveniently diffuse into all four paths. 'Natural people-bias syndrome' and ethno-linguistic fractionalization is believed to be responsible for neopatrimonial governance in sub-Saharan Africa. This also affects the region's ability to implement any economic model, governance concept or very simple and basic projects. Thus, the Integral-Hybrid Framework seeks to paint a comprehensive picture of the region's socio-economic status and ways to gradually and steadily push the carriage of economic development.

Political involvement in a democratizing neopatrimonial polity: the case of Ghana -1992-2000

br>In the last decade and half, a consensus emerged that the difficulties that have slowed down Africa's development are more political than economic. Stiglitz (1998) and Ake (1978) note that the key ingredients in a successful development strategy are ownership and participation. Political scientists and Africa's development partners have, consequently, suggested more democratization and good governance as means of bringing Africa out of underdevelopment. This paper draws on the Ghanaian experience of re-democratization in 1992 to reflect upon the efficacy of this route. The underlying assumption of the paper is that, notwithstanding re-democratization in 1992, issue participation in Ghana remains low, and that ingrained informal institutions of neopatrimonial governance bear a heavy, though far from exclusive, responsibility. The study uses as a primary data source survey conducted in five administrative regions of Ghana between October 2002 and February 2003. Three key findings are made. First, it establishes that political participation beyond elections (i.e. issue politics) is low in Ghana. Second, it establishes that informal institutions of neopatrimonial governance are deep-seated and pervasive. Finally, it establishes a strong correlation between neopatrimonialism and political participation. Significantly, it finds that neopatrimonialism accounts for about two-thirds (80%) of the low rates and levels of issue politics in Africa. A major conclusion of the paper is that rather than stimulate a participatory explosion, re-democratization seems to have contributed to the reproduction of neopatrimonialism. The innovative conclusion is drawn that the amplification of neopatrimonialism dims political participation, whilst a reduction in neopatrimonialism would create political space and augment issue politics in Africa. Institute of African Studies: Research Review Vol. 22 (2) 2006: pp 13-36

Reforming Dysfunctional Institutions Through Democratisation? Reflections on Ghana

How can Africa's societies reorient and rebuild state apparatuses where predatory, neo-patrimonial governance has held sway? This emerges as a key question if one accepts that dysfunctional institutions, and not just poor initial conditions, a hostile international environment, external shocks, or policy errors, have impeded Africa's economic recovery. Although analysts and organisations place differing weights on these various causes, few now dissent from the consensus that political-institutional reforms are a necessary condition for African development. Yet recognising the need for such change is one thing; knowing how to bring it about is quite another. Few guidelines exist to steer this complex and long-term task. Democratisation is now often cited as one means to foster institutional renewal, and this article draws on the Ghanaian experience to reflect upon the efficacy of this route.

From Hunters to Herders: Subsistence Change as a Reproductive Strategy among the Mukogodo

From Hunters to Herders: Subsistence Change as a Reproductive Strategy among the Mukogodo