Political Elite Circulation: Implications for Leadership Diversity and Democratic Regime Stability in Ghana

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 114-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Odonkor Svanikier

AbstractThis article proposes that elite theory is at the heart of understanding political conflict in Africa. A case study of Ghana analyses the historical origins of elite conflict in Ghana before and after independence. The article links high levels of political elite circulation resulting from the transformation of traditional social structures with high levels of political elite differentiation and instability in the post-colonial era. Since 1992 Ghana's new liberal democratic regime has flourished. There are indications that there is a gradual increase in unity amongst competing political elites. Diversity amongst political elites has resulted in greater representation at the leadership level. These factors may explain the sustained period of political stability and the gradual deepening of liberal democracy in Ghana.

2021 ◽  
pp. 001041402199717
Author(s):  
Joan Ricart-Huguet

Political elites tend to favor their home region when distributing resources. But what explains how political power is distributed across a country’s regions to begin with? Explanations of cabinet formation focus on short-term strategic bargaining and some emphasize that ministries are allocated equitably to minimize conflict. Using new data on the cabinet members (1960–2010) of 16 former British and French African colonies, I find that some regions have been systematically much more represented than others. Combining novel historical and geospatial records, I show that this regional political inequality derives not from colonial-era development in general but from colonial-era education in particular. I argue that post-colonial ministers are partly a byproduct of civil service recruitment practices among European administrators that focused on levels of literacy. Regional political inequality is an understudied pathway through which colonial legacies impact distributive politics and unequal development in Africa today. JEL: F54, I26, N37, N47


2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Power ◽  
Cesar Zucco

AbstractThis article examines key ideological, economic, and institutional preferences of the Brazilian political elite in the first 25 years of the country's present democratic regime. Introducing the unified dataset of the Brazilian Legislative Surveys, it examines several crucial dimensions of politicians' attitudes, including elite placement on a traditional left-right scale, preferences concerning the fundamental economic model, direct comparisons of the recent Cardoso and Lula governments, and orientations toward Brazil's global and regional projection. On many of the central issues, attitudes have remained stable, but on the dimensions that have seen notable change, nearly all the change has been in the direction of decreasing polarization. In contrast to the experience of some neighboring countries, the Brazilian case demonstrates that the sustained practice of democracy can lead to attitudinal convergence and macro-political stability, even when the initial political and socioeconomic conditions appear daunting.


2017 ◽  
pp. 86-93
Author(s):  
Tetiana Voropayeva

The article analyzes the Ukrainian national elite of the postcolonial era through the prism of citizenship. In recent years, the interest in elitist issues has been grown significantly. In modern socio-humanitarian field, the issues of the elites’ role in the modern world, the criteria for evaluating different elite’s activity, the measure of their citizenship, patriotism and professionalism are often discussed. Positive social transformations in many respects depend on the qualitative state of modern Ukrainian elites, on their socio-political maturity, on their willingness and ability to consolidate Ukrainian society, on the level of their responsibility for the fate of Ukraine. The author of the article follows to the concept of plurality of elites (based on the idea of distinguishing elite groups in the fields of their leading activities), which enables the allocation of political, ideological, publicadministrative, military, economic and engineering, scientific, spiritual, medical, educational (pedagogical), cultural-artistic, religious, informational, sporting, etc. In the post-colonial period, all these elite groups must become an integral elements of the Ukrainian national elite. In article the citizen is analyzed as a subject of qualitative social transformations in the post-colonial period, as well as civil practices of self-organization of society in the context of modern transformational processes in Ukraine by the article. The phenomenon of civic activity of an elitist person is analyzed in a theoretical, methodological and empirical perspective. The article deals with theoretical and methodological bases, structure and development peculiarities of the civil position of the personality. Civil society is seen as a cultural and historical type of society. The peculiarities of its formation and functioning in post-colonial Ukraine are analyzed. The author suggests his own periodization of the civil society development in Ukraine. So, the Ukrainian national elite would become the true subject of decolonization of Ukraine and positive social transformations only when all its representatives will begin to perform their core functions in a responsible way: culture-creating, state-building, nation-building, as well as consolidating, creative-transforming, forecasting, motivational, mobilizing, administrating, spiritual-ideological, identification, patriotic, humanistic, axiological, democratic, stabilizing, strategic, security, etc. The Ukrainian national elite must respond on time to the challenges posed by time (globalization, ecological, economic, technological, informational, etc.). The most important for modern Ukraine isn’t only the formation of an effective and responsible political elite that could consolidate other elite groups, directing their activities in a constructive way, but also ensuring its timely rotation, qualitative upgrading, de-oligarchy and overcoming its alienation from society. The national elite must carry out highquality legal, political, socio-economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological and other transformations; to support the integrity and spiritual unity of society, the development of democracy and self-organization processes in Ukraine, the formation and approval of a civil-political and European civilization identity of Ukrainian citizens.


Author(s):  
Kostadis Jason Papaioannou ◽  
Angus Edwin Dalrymple-Smith

This article explores the relative importance of pre-colonial institutional capacity and the effects of periods of peace and stability on long-term development outcomes in Nigeria. We use data on education, health, and public works at a provincial level from a variety of colonial and Nigerian state sources to apply a decade-by-decade analysis of public goods provision in Nigeria from 1900 to 2010. Using a newly constructed measure of pre-colonial institutional capacity our results suggest that colonial-era investments were influenced by pre-colonial conditions and that the pax colonia allowed for a strong path dependency until the second world war. Contrary to other studies, which find evidence of pre-colonial centralization affecting current outcomes. In particular, we find that the post-1945 era saw a break in the pattern developed earlier in the century. Rising regionalism from the 1950s led to violent conflict and military dictatorship and caused decades of unstable and unpredictable patterns of investment which ended only with the reestablishment of democracy in the 1990s. Therefore, a key explanatory variable to understanding patterns of public goods provision seems to be the level of political stability which the Nigerian state experienced at different points during the 20th century. [JEL codes: N00, O1, H4]


Africa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Walker

AbstractThe widespread failure of the post-colonial state in Africa is often attributed to a lack of social and cultural unity, and hence of national identity, in the territories in question. In Europe the state has historically been conceptualized as coterminous with the nation, an apparently ‘natural’ cultural unit that allowed for subsequent political cohesion and the avoidance of ethnic conflict. In Africa the concept (and the reality) of the nation is often absent and this is sometimes considered to be a stumbling block on the path to political stability. However, the suggestion that a state whose population exhibits the requisite cultural homogeneity would construct and maintain a nation and, subsequently, successful and stable statehood is challenged by evidence from the Comoro Islands. Here, despite apparent socio-cultural unity, there has been little movement towards the development of a nation; indeed, there is evidence that an explicit denial of socio-cultural unity underpins the failure of the state.


2000 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 721-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo F. Goodstadt

In preparing for the resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong, the Chinese government had to decide which individuals and groups would occupy the commanding heights of the post-colonial political landscape. During the colonial era, the British had sought to enhance their legitimacy in the absence of democracy through endorsement from representatives of the “business elite” (the families which owned the leading banking, commercial, industrial and real estate enterprises, together with the senior executives of major public companies and leading professionals). In return, this elite and its proxies were granted a privileged role in policy and law-making throughout most of British rule. Chinese officials responsible for managing the transition from British to Chinese rule proved equally eager to have this group's support, and well before 1997 China had replaced “the colonial bureaucracy as the political partner of the bourgeoisie” and was recruiting a majority of its new political establishment from the business elite.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Adebukola Dagunduro ◽  
Adebimpe Adenugba

AbstractWomen’s activism within various ethnic groups in Nigeria dates back to the pre-colonial era, with notable heroic leaders, like Moremi of Ife, Amina of Zaria, Emotan of Benin, Funmilayo Kuti, Margaret Ekpo and many others. The participation of Nigerian women in the Beijing Conference of 1995 led to a stronger voice for women in the political landscape. Several women’s rights groups have sprung up in the country over the years. Notable among them are the Federation of Nigerian Women’s Societies (FNWS), Women in Nigeria (WIN), Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) and Female in Nigeria (FIN). However, majority have failed to actualize significant political, social or economic growth. This paper examines the challenges and factors leading to their inability to live up to people’s expectations. Guided by patriarchy and liberal feminism theories, this paper utilizes both historical and descriptive methods to examine these factors. The paper argues that a lack of solidarity among women’s groups, financial constraints, unfavourable political and social practices led to the inability of women’s groups in Nigeria to live up to the envisaged expectations. The paper concludes that, for women’s activist groups to survive in Nigeria, a quiet but significant social revolution is necessary among women. Government should also formulate and implement policies that will empower women politically, economically and socially.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
William G. Dzekashu ◽  
Julius N. Anyu

The West, chiefly Europe, left political footmarks in Africa from the Colonial Era, along with varying economic footprints and surviving engagements in the immediate Post-colonial Era. However, the relationships between Africa and her former colonial masters have hardly yielded much to the former following the wave of independence, leading to the perception of failed relationships. This perception of failure to deliver on their undertakings has left Africa with only one option—China. The latter has been addressing some of Africa’s urgent infrastructure needs in return for natural resources and agricultural products. These engagements on the surface appear to be good business, but on further examination seem questionable notably as it relates to debt distress on vulnerable economies. To increase her footprint within the continent, China extended her Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to most African nations who have signed a memorandum of understanding for future development projects. Though the commitments usually are unspecified, China’s investments have seen rapid growth since the early 2000s, largely owing to the implementation of the BRI. The memoranda have had the potential to strengthen ties with partner nations. The expansion to include Africa in its economic participation in the BRI has left the West questioning China’s motives while reinforcing suspicions about possible future US-China conflict. The impact of BRI on the African continent is quite visible in all the subregions, especially in their improved gross domestic products. A burning question has been whether these partnerships represent win-win relationships for sustainable growth or debt-growth dynamics.


Urban History ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-588
Author(s):  
Frederik Buylaert ◽  
Jelten Baguet ◽  
Janna Everaert

AbstractThis article provides a comparative analysis of four large towns in the Southern Low Countries between c. 1350 and c. 1550. Combining the data on Ghent, Bruges and Antwerp – each of which is discussed in greater detail in the articles in this special section – with recent research on Bruges, the authors argue against the historiographical trend in which the political history of late medieval towns is supposedly dominated by a trend towards oligarchy. Rather than a closure of the ruling class, the four towns show a high turnover in the social composition of the political elite, and a consistent trend towards aristocracy, in which an increasingly large number of aldermen enjoyed noble status. The intensity of these trends differed from town to town, and was tied to different institutional configurations as well as different economic and political developments in each of the four towns.


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