Traditional Governance Structures Research Articles

How violence shapes contentious traditional leadership in Nigeria’s Niger Delta

This article analyses the role of violence in the emergence of political leadership in village-communities of Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The article makes three overarching arguments. First, that individuals involved in violent militancy and youth cultism (gangs) use violence to attain political power within communities in the Niger Delta. When they succeed, these individuals become the new elites in their communities. This power is often focused on appropriating traditional authority. Second, the use of violence to take control of traditional governance structures reduces the moral authority that legitimizes traditional leadership. Third, the struggle by everyday people and factions within villages to reclaim traditional authority from violent actors creates contentious leadership in communities. These arguments highlight the crisis being experienced by traditional forms of governance in Nigeria’s Niger Delta as a result of the proliferation of violence in the region. Based on empirical data obtained from ethnic communities heavily impacted by militancy and youth cultism in Rivers State, the article found that competitive struggles amongst the local elites in communities over the control of cult groups, and economic and political spaces of traditional authority shape the dynamics of cult wars, political violence and contentious leadership in the Niger Delta.

Hybrid and Multi-Level Adaptive Governance for Sustainable Urban Transformations in the Global South: A Secondary City Case Study

The water governance crisis has critical implications for the transformation of cities through establishment of sustainable water management practices. Adaptive governance approaches, with their potential to address global water governance challenges, are emerging in the context of the global South (GS). A key feature of adaptive governance is its enabling context, or hybridized governance approach which bridges organizational and network activities across multiple implementation scales. Transforming urban water management toward sustainable water governance practices requires flexibility and agility, and a willingness to enable new ideas, features often associated with smaller and newer cities (secondary cities) which are less constrained than the major cities. However, unpacking their potentiality and the scope of such secondary cities to lead the way in transitioning to sustainable water governance remains under-researched. To address this gap, a qualitative study in a representative GS secondary city (Mymensingh in Bangladesh) was undertaken to investigate whether national and local strategies directed toward improving governance and management capacity of the local municipality are yielding sustainable transformations. We identified a significant shift within the governance regime that influences existing power dynamics and decision-making for the delivery of urban water services. Within the traditional state-led governance structure, a hybridized governance is emerging that builds both institutional and actor capacity. However, these hybridized governance activities are strongly dependent on (international) donor investment and guidance, therefore the presence or absence of donor support will likely determine the impact of these activities in the future.

A Review of Legal, Ethical, and Governance Issues for Team Doctors.

To provide a review and discussion of a range of legal and ethical issues commonly faced by team physicians, with reference to high-profile international integrity crises in sport that have involved doctors. The article also presents some recommendations and guidance for team doctors and sporting organizations. Media reports, legal cases, and journal articles describing recent sporting integrity crises that have involved medical issues and governance reforms which are emerging in response. Many of the modern "integrity crises" in sport have a medical aspect (eg, doping cases, catastrophic injuries and illnesses, "Bloodgate" and other "medical cheating," sexual contact between doctors and athletes, harassment/bullying of doctors, concussion mismanagement, and management of the coronavirus pandemic in sport). A key issue is that while doctors bear ultimate responsibility for any perceived medical negligence, they do not always have ultimate power in decision-making. This is common in the traditional governance structure where the coach/manager "outranks" the doctor and can overrule medical decisions. There can be a blurring of the traditional doctor-patient relationship, especially on tour, and conflicts of interests occur when the needs of the employer/sporting organization differ from the player (patient). Further issues can arise in treating other staff members and players' family members. Doctors must be aware of range of important legal and ethical issues that arise in the team setting. Medical integrity crises have inspired governance reforms, such as policy development, appointment of chief medical officers, medical staff reporting to integrity departments, and sanctions of teams that breach medical integrity requirements. Sporting organizations must continue to implement and strengthen frameworks reinforcing doctors' seniority in the medical area.

Solidarity economy cooperatives: The impact of governance and gender on member income

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to identify the most effective governance configurations, including gender composition, for the creation and amplification of solidarity economy cooperative (SEC) members' income. It is known that the governance of these organizations affects their ability to provide work and income to millions of disfranchised people around the world. However, the relationship between the governance of SECs, their members' gender, and their income remains under‐investigated and under‐theorized. To bridge this gap, we employ the qualitative comparative analysis method to investigate different dimensions of the governance of 327 small Brazilian SECs. Our results indicate two governance configurations that are highly likely to lead to the production and increase of members' income. In general, our results show that the most successful SECs in this regard are those that adopt more traditional governance structures and have a prevalence of male members. Our findings also indicate that democratic aspect of SEC governance must be coupled with other governance structures in order to deliver the expected results. Our results will be of interest to both scholars and SEC leaders for better understanding and managing the connection between the governance of these organizations and their members' income generation.

Navigating Traditional and Modern Institutions in City Governance: The Role of Chieftaincy in Spatial Planning in Tamale, Ghana

ABSTRACT At a time of intensifying urbanisation in Ghana, ineffective spatial planning is one of the symptomatic challenges of urban growth in the country. In the Ghanaian context, traditional authorities (chiefs) play a disproportionate role in urban land management due to the fact that a vast proportion of the country’s land is held in customary tenurial arrangements. The role of the traditional authorities in (urban) land management is given legal status by national constitutional provisions that recognise chiefs as fiduciaries of the land held under customary tenure. The state-supported customary land secretariats (CLSs) perform these responsibilities in conjunction with the local government structures. They are largely being operationalised through urban land-use planning. However, the complex factors and processes of rapid urban growth have had unintended consequences. These include increased urban land values, speculative and informal land markets, and overlapping governance/power structures. The outcome has been the reported commodification and administration of urban land by chiefs for personal gain. These complex processes evolve at the intersection of traditional and modern governance structures which are opportunistically interpreted and applied to achieve certain ends. This article demonstrates how these changes in customary land administration are evolving in Tamale, Ghana. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with participants from relevant statutory land sector institutions, local government officials and traditional authorities. Using the lens of urban governance and planning practices, the article explores the outcomes of chief-led spatial planning and customary land administration practices and associated land markets in Tamale. These are social, economic and spatial inequalities, as well as urban governance challenges.

Traditional Authorities in African Cities: Setting the Scene

ABSTRACT This special issue on the role of traditional authorities in African cities highlights critical debates about governance and urban development on a fast-urbanising continent. The six articles in this issue focus on the following: (1) the roles of traditional authorities as custodians of the values of society; (2) the roles of traditional leaders as moral authorities; (3) the modern chieftaincy as an invention of the colonial state; (4) the ‘unrelenting co-optation and appropriation’ of traditional governance structures by the state; and (5) the stretching of pre-colonial narratives to justify the legitimacy of traditional leadership and its control of community resources. The special issue features contributions from Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini, providing a rare comparison between cases from Southern and West Africa.

Contextualizing the Sharing Economy

AbstractThe Sharing Economy (SE) has demonstrated unprecedented capability in large‐scale mobilization of dispersed and underutilized private assets for collective usage. We argue that the SE represents a unique governance structure with dual nature of two‐sided market platform and modular architecture. Although the emergence of the SE is enabled by the rise of digital applications and changes in consumption attitudes, the effectiveness of this governance structure is not uniform across contexts. We analyse the roles of disparate actors in the SE and the relationships among them, in order to identify the contexts under which the SE is most likely to be the effective governance structure compared with traditional governance structures such as markets and firms, and new governance structures such as other platform economies and collaborative ecosystems. Two comparison frameworks are developed to illustrate the contextual factors that determine the effectiveness of the SE vis‐à‐vis other governance structures.

The Logic behind the Internal Governance of Sweden’s Largest Agricultural Cooperatives

This study comprises a qualitative analysis of the governance structures within the two largest agricultural cooperatives in Sweden, both of which have large and heterogeneous memberships, as well as sizeable and complex business operations. Interviews were conducted with district council members and representatives from the boards of directors. The data from both case cooperatives indicate a genuinely traditional democratic member governance structure. There is a great deal of social capital in the governance system. A tentative explanation of the member involvement is that the cooperatives’ equity capital is owned by the individual members, and the members are free to sell and buy their shares at a market rate. The members are satisfied with the return on the capital they have invested in the cooperatives. They receive bonus shares and dividends above what most members would get in other investments. A conclusion is that very large cooperatives may succeed well with a member-democratic governance system of the traditional cooperative type, which in this case is probably due to the members’ satisfaction with the individualized ownership of the cooperatives.

Understanding tenure security dynamics in resettlement towns: Evidence from the Bui Resettlement Project in Ghana

Many researchers have investigated the impacts of resettlement schemes in Ghana. However, not many have explored the tenure dynamics in resettlement and how it either improves or worsens tenure security. This study contributes to filling this gap by assessing tenure security in the Bui Resettlement Town B in Ghana and proposes measures for undertaking resettlement projects in a tenure responsive manner. The study adopted a qualitative and descriptive statistical approach based on data collected using interviews on tenure experiences and resettlement processes concerning the Bui resettlement project (Resettlement Town B) in Ghana. Findings show that tenure insecurity is associated with the resettlement project due to the transformation of tenure from communal holding to individual holding, changes in traditional land governance structures from local chiefs to Bui Power Authority and a general lack of access to land. The study concludes with some measures for improving tenure security in resettlement towns.

Introduction of multi-dose PCV 13 vaccine in Benin: from the decision to vaccinators experience

BackgroundIn 2011, Benin introduced the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV13), in a single-dose vial, into its Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) with support from Gavi. In April 2018, with the support of the Agence de Médecine Préventive Afrique (AMP) and other technical and financial partners, the single-dose vial was transitioned to a four-dose vial. Here we describe the decision-making process and the experience of the vaccinators during the change.MethodsWe carried out semi-structured, individual interviews with 61 participants individuals involved in the EPI: 7 from central level, 5 from regional level, 7 from township level and 42 from district level. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the information categorised, using Nvivo software, and then analysed.ResultsThe Inter-agency Coordination Committee (ICC), the Benin National Advisory Committee for Vaccines and Vaccination, (BNACVV) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) (i.e., the traditional governance structures involved in vaccination decisions) were not involved in the decision to change to the four-dose vial for PCV13. The decision was taken by the EPI, supported by Gavi.The vaccination errors observed in the first months following the change in presentation were due to the absence of guidelines for changes in vaccine presentation and the central-level actors’ perception that it was ‘only a change in the vial’, and therefore that the communication and training for a new vaccine were not required since the vaccine itself and its administration mode were unchanged.ConclusionsIt is important that the other countries eligible for Gavi support that are about to change to the multi-dose vial PCV13 presentation learn from Benin’s experience. The main lessons learned are that changes in the presentation of an established vaccine should follow the same process as the introduction of a new vaccine, and that all stakeholders involved in vaccines and vaccination should participate in the decision-making process and implementation.

The over-cascading system of cadre evaluation and China’s authoritarian resilience

China’s cadre evaluation system – the personnel management system used to assess the performance of government officials in the party-state – is considered an important tool for upper-level governments to supervise and regulate lower-level agents. This system is one of the key factors contributing to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authoritarian resilience. Deficiencies of this system are exemplified by the ‘blind pursuit of GDP’, selective implementation, gaming, collusion, and data fabrication. The CCP has been reforming this system to strengthen its monitoring and political control over local government cadres, especially at the county level, and it is a crucial component in the step-by-step hierarchical power structure. While current literature focuses largely on the assessment content of such reform, this article pays specific attention to the changes in the cascading evaluation structure of province to prefecture to county. The article identifies a new dynamic of ‘over-cascading’ whereby provincial governments bypass prefectural governments and directly evaluate county officials, resulting in the co-existence of prefecture-county and province-county evaluations. This article also explores the functioning mechanism of this dual structure and argues that this structural change in the cadre evaluation system is breaking the traditional hierarchical governance structure and enhancing authoritarian resilience of the CCP because it provides a new route for over-cascading governance between provincial and county governments. This research contributes to the conceptualization of the over-cascading governing structure of the CCP and fills gaps in the literature on structural changes in China’s cadre evaluation system.

Diplomacy in the Digital Age: Lessons from Denmark’s TechPlomacy Initiative

Summary As a small, open, advanced economy, Denmark has a lot at stake in the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, the speed of emerging technologies and massive influence of multinational tech companies challenge traditional governance structures and diplomatic services around the world, creating a ‘diplomatic deficit’. That is why Denmark became the first country to appoint a Tech Ambassador and elevate technological trends to a foreign and security policy priority in mid-2017. This practitioner’s piece lays out the underlying reasoning behind engaging with the tech industry, the first-hand experiences from the initiative and some hard-won lessons before turning to the future perspectives. TechPlomacy is a political initiative with a global mandate to represent the Danish government vis-à-vis the tech industry with offices in Copenhagen, Silicon Valley and Beijing. The authors argue for new forms of coalition building engaging industry, governments and institutions in addressing the opportunities and risks of technology.

Culture and Native American Economic Development

This paper explores how culture affects economic development on Native American reservations by examining how culture directs the attention of entrepreneurs and interacts with formal governance institutions. This paper combines theoretical insights from economic sociology, market process economics, and institutional economics as a basis to evaluate entrepreneurship and economic development on Native American reservations. Culture, as a web of social meanings, shapes what opportunities entrepreneurs are alert to, influences how they perceive transaction costs, and determines whether institutions achieve their intended ends. Historical and contemporary case studies are used to build analytical narratives to corroborate the theoretical approach. The federal government has imposed many formal institutions on reservations, which have disrupted traditional governance and property rights structures. If formal institutions do not comport with the underlying culture, those institutions do not facilitate positive entrepreneurship and economic growth. Despite the barriers, entrepreneurs across several reservations have leveraged their cultural and social ties to create robust informal economies. In some cases, imposed institutions have fostered rent-seeking and have given rise to a culture of rent-seeking.

Culture and Native American economic development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how culture affects economic development on Native American reservations by examining how culture directs the attention of entrepreneurs and interacts with formal governance institutions.Design/methodology/approachThis paper combines theoretical insights from economic sociology, market process economics and institutional economics as a basis to evaluate entrepreneurship and economic development on Native American reservations. Culture, as a web of social meanings, shapes what opportunities entrepreneurs are alert to, influences how they perceive transaction costs and determines whether institutions achieve their intended ends. Historical and contemporary case studies are used to build analytical narratives to corroborate the theoretical approach.FindingsThe federal government has imposed many formal institutions on reservations, which have disrupted traditional governance and property rights structures. If formal institutions do not comport with the underlying culture, those institutions do not facilitate positive entrepreneurship and economic growth. Despite the barriers, entrepreneurs across several reservations have leveraged their cultural and social ties to create robust informal economies. In some cases, imposed institutions have fostered rent-seeking and have given rise to a culture of rent-seeking.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper looks at Native American entrepreneurship and institutions in the broadest sense. However, there is a large amount of diversity within the cultural and governance structures of Native American communities. Future research could examine specific tribes or reservations in more detail.Practical implicationsThis paper elucidates cultural and institutional barriers to productive entrepreneurship on Native American lands. Policymakers must understand these root causes if they are to facilitate economic growth.Originality/valueThis paper’s combination of theoretical perspectives helps explain the widespread economic development issues on Native American lands.

The Power Structure of Ondoafi in the Adat Village Government System of Jayapura Regency

The aim of this research is to find out the structure of Ondoafi's power and its role in the system of Adat Village Government in Jayapura Regency as a government form based on the Regional Regulation Number 8 of 2016 concerning Adat Village. This research uses normative and empirical research. The results’ research indicate that the implementation of the adat village government system with the Ondoafi government system naturally has some structural, administrative and social obstacles. Structurally, the Ondoafi Adat Government has very broad powers/authorities. It has also administrative barrier in terms of supervision from the Regional Government, and of course it will be influenced by the community/social environment as one of the obstacles faced by the adat village government system. The position Ondoafi in traditional governance structure according to the Regional Regulation No. 8 of 2016 has actually run two systems of government, namely the Adat or traditional government system and the customary village administration system that were formed based on the Jayapura Regency Regulation. The new structure of the Adat village apparatus already exists in the Adat governance structure and the Adat functionaries in the Ondoafi system are inherited, hereditary, and sacred. They are responsible for their duties to the ondoafi. Keywords : Ondoafi, Government, Adat Village. DOI : 10.7176/JLPG/91-08 Publication date: November 30 th 2019

Finance and the social mission: a quest for sustainability and inclusion

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to probe whether the quest for sustainability in financial social enterprise institutions leads to mission drift. Both formal and informal institutions play an important role as interventions to promote inclusion. They struggle between an explicit social mission and the implicit quest for sustainability. The debate remains on whether such organisations can achieve financial sustainability without compromising outreach.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses interviews and focus group discussions in nine different hybrid organisations involved in providing different types of financial services in Swaziland.FindingsThe results suggest that smaller and informal enterprises tend to have less mission drift. Their risk mitigation and management approaches such as group liability and use of traditional governance structures are more adapted to the characteristics of the groups served. The modus operandi of larger enterprises tends to mimic mainstream lenders with risk mitigation measures that are inherently unsustainable for this type of market.Research limitations/implicationsSustainability in financial enterprises requires new contextualised models of risk management and client selection more appropriate for excluded groups. Moreover, using group lending as a measure of outreach maybe flawed. Other forms of social capital can be used to increase outreach even in the absence of group lending. The perceived trade-off between commercial gain and outreach is somewhat complex. Mission drift seems to depend on the capital structure.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to an infant but important debate on how sustainability can be achieved without compromising outreach in financial institutions designed to increase financial inclusion.

When Things Were Falling Apart: Tocqueville, Fei Xiaotong and the Agrarian Causes of the Chinese Revolution

A fundamental question that has concerned social scientists since Barrington Moore is the political transformations that accompanied agrarian societies’ transitions to modern economy. One paradigmatic case is the peasant-based Communist revolution in China, the causes of which have been the subject of a long-standing debate. Scholars have emphasized peasant proletarianization, Communist leadership in peasant nationalism, the attraction of their socio- economic reforms, their effective mobilization, Nationalists’ failures, and geographical conditions. Based on county gazetteers and administrative records of 154 counties in the most heavily contested region during the crucial years, we conduct the first multivariate local-level analysis of revolution. The results show little support for existing narratives. Instead, they substantiate what we call the “Tocqueville-Fei thesis”, that state centralization in agrarian bureaucratic polities inadvertently facilitated social revolution. The state’s effort to penetrate local communities undermined traditional governance structures, upsetting the balance between the state and local norms/elites and turning state agents into unbridled predators on peasants, which created favorable conditions for the Communists. This study has implications for understanding the modernization of agrarian societies and the dynamics of social change, and casts new light on the long-term trajectory of the state-society relationship in China.

Path to Centralization and Development: Evidence from Siam

AbstractThis article investigates the role of colonial pressure on state centralization and its relationship to subsequent development by analyzing the influence of Western colonial threats on Siam’s internal political reform. Unlike other countries in the region, Siam remained independent by adopting geographical administrative boundaries and incorporating its traditional governance structures into a new, centralized governance system. The authors find that the order in which areas were integrated into the centralized system depended on the interaction between precentralization political structures and proximity to British and French territorial claims. The authors show that areas centralized early in the process had higher levels of infrastructure investment and public goods provision at the time the centralization process was completed in 1915 than those centralized later in the process. They also show that early centralization during the Western colonial era continued to be strongly associated with higher levels of public goods provision and economic development, and that this relationship persists today.

Transnational access to large prospective cohorts in Europe: Current trends and unmet needs

Biobank samples and data from studies of large prospective cohorts (LPC) represent an invaluable resource for health research. Efficient sharing and pooling of samples and data is a central pre-requisite for new advances in biomedical science. This requirement, however, is not compatible with the present scattered and traditional access governance structures, where legal and ethical frameworks often form an obstacle for effective sharing. Moreover, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is demanding increasingly rigorous administration from all those organisations processing personal data. The BBMRI-LPC project (Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure ― Large Prospective Cohorts) assembled 21 LPCs from 10 countries and two EU-wide multinational cohort networks with a key objective to promote collaborative innovative transnational research proposed by external researchers on the broad field of common chronic diseases, and analyze the gaps and needs involved. BBMRI-LPC organized three scientific calls to offer European investigators an opportunity to gain free of charge transnational access to research material available in the participating cohorts. A total of 11 high-quality research proposals involving multiple prospective cohorts were granted, and the access process in the individual projects carefully monitored. Divergent access governance structures, complex legal and ethical frameworks and heterogeneous procedures were identified as currently constituting substantial obstacles for sample and data transfer in Europe. To optimize the scientific value and use of these research resources, practical solutions for more streamlined access governance in collaborative projects are urgently needed. A number of infrastructure developments could be made to improve time-efficiency in access provision.

Extracorporeal application of eddy brakes to control the magnetic nanoparticles and modulating the drift and diffusion characteristics of these particles in the heart – a theoretical assessment

Biobank samples and data from studies of large prospective cohorts (LPC) represent an invaluable resource for health research. Efficient sharing and pooling of samples and data is a central pre-requisite for new advances in biomedical science. This requirement, however, is not compatible with the present scattered and traditional access governance structures, where legal and ethical frameworks often form an obstacle for effective sharing. Moreover, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is demanding increasingly rigorous administration from all those organisations processing personal data. The BBMRI-LPC project (Biobanking and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure ― Large Prospective Cohorts) assembled 21 LPCs from 10 countries and two EU-wide multinational cohort networks with a key objective to promote collaborative innovative transnational research proposed by external researchers on the broad field of common chronic diseases, and analyze the gaps and needs involved. BBMRI-LPC organized three scientific calls to offer European investigators an opportunity to gain free of charge transnational access to research material available in the participating cohorts. A total of 11 high-quality research proposals involving multiple prospective cohorts were granted, and the access process in the individual projects carefully monitored. Divergent access governance structures, complex legal and ethical frameworks and heterogeneous procedures were identified as currently constituting substantial obstacles for sample and data transfer in Europe. To optimize the scientific value and use of these research resources, practical solutions for more streamlined access governance in collaborative projects are urgently needed. A number of infrastructure developments could be made to improve time-efficiency in access provision.