Towards a right-to-development governance in Africa

In this article, I provide the rationale for conceptualizing a rights-based development model for Africa, necessitated by the conviction to seek African solutions to African problems. For the first time since independence, Africa has formulated a consolidated roadmap for development named “Agenda 2063,” which looks promising and attainable but leaves unanswered questions relating to the right to development enshrined in the African Charter and ancillary treaty instruments. In retrospect, I illustrate how the right to development originated and has evolved in Africa, potentially setting the pace for development and human rights protection but has not yet recorded significant impact. I contend that Africa's development future is attainable only through a self-reliant consciousness, not by letting the development agenda be shaped by imported paradigms. I justify why and how this is achievable by advancing arguments in favor of right-to-development governance as a homegrown model for development in Africa.     

Federalism and Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Five Patterns of Evolution

Abstract

The 1990s were marked by democratic reforms throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. This went in tandem with decentralization reforms which either created or strengthened subnational levels of government. More than twenty years later it seems everywhere to the south of the Sahara there is a gap between the institutional/constitutional blueprints introducing the reforms and the facts on the ground. Understanding and explaining this gap in the workings of federalism and decentralization is important to both theorists and practitioners. This article proposes five benchmarks in order to map out the evolutionary patterns of the last two decades: a) symmetrical recentralization; b) differentiated performance; c) legitimizing traditional authority structures and indigenous conflict resolution; d) politicization of local conflicts over land, water, and other natural resources; and e) federal extinction.     

Ethnic Inequality and the Strength of Ethnic Identities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ethnic inequality has been argued to have numerous pernicious effects. Among other things, scholars have argued that it breeds political violence, destabilizes democracy, and impedes economic development. While the arguments developed by these literatures implicitly assume that ethnic inequality increases the degree to which individuals identify with their ethnicity, this assumption has yet to be tested empirically at the individual-level. This paper argues and empirically demonstrates that between-ethnic group inequality does strengthen ethnic identities. However, we also find that the magnitude of its effect weakens as inequality within ethnic groups increases. That is, individuals identify most strongly with their ethnic identity when ethnicity is reinforced by economic inequality. Using the Afrobarometer, we provide the first cross-national empirical test of the effect of ethnic inequality on the strength of ethnic identities at the individual-level. Our dataset covers 21 sub-Saharan African countries and 85 ethnic groups. Results strongly support our hypothesis.     

Public sector transparency and sustainable development: A focus on Sub-Saharan Africa

This study empirically addresses the relevance of public transparency in promoting sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the generalized method of moments techniques in order to account for concerns of endogeneity and simultaneity, the study utilizes a panel of forty-eight (48) countries in Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2000-2019. We then establish the subsequent findings. Public transparency maintains overall positive net effects on both the human development index (i.e., social sustainability); adjusted net national income growth (i.e., economic sustainability), and renewal energy consumption (i.e., environmental sustainability). Overall, we establish that public transparency enhances sustainable development. This study recommends that policymakers should ensure that public transparency processes are enhanced in order to achieve the post-2015 agenda.     

Ethics and Foreign Policy: the Antinomies of New Labour's 'Third Way' in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article explores how New Labour has attempted to implement its ideas about a 'third way' foreign policy in sub-Saharan Africa. Through an examination of British foreign policy practices, we explore whether New Labour has succeeded in finding a 'third way' between traditional views of socialism and capitalism in Africa. In particular, the article focuses on New Labour's attempts to build peace, prosperity and democracy on the African continent. We conclude that although New Labour's claims to add an 'ethical dimension' to foreign policy have succeeded in giving Britain a higher profile in the international arena, the implementation of such a policy is intrinsically difficult. These difficulties in turn arise from the antinomies embodied in New Labour's policy, or more specifically from the tension between the liberal internationalism of the third way and traditional concerns for the national interest, as well as the contradictions inherent in a commitment to both political and economic liberalism.     

Revising the Leadership Paradigm in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Study of Community-Based Leadership

Much of the discourse on leadership in sub-Saharan Africa emphasizes leader characteristics, skills, styles, and behaviors, while ignoring the relationships, interactions, practical judgments, and unique contexts that make up leadership in everyday cultural community life. This essay argues that the focus on individual leaders hardly reflects leadership as practice in African communities. An alternative, pragmatic view based on unique historicity and cultural community norms is proposed, one that has a chance of fostering social change and institutional transformation.     

Decentralization,local governance and ‘recentralization’ in Africa

Although Many African states have pursued substantial decentralization reforms in the previous twenty years, many of these reforms are still experiencing problems in bringing about effective local governance. Often these problems grow from the difficulty in translating general reform initiatives into specific working arrangements at the local level that are effective in several key processes and operations. Specifically these include planning and capital investment, budgeting and fiscal management, personnel systems and management, and finance and revenue. A combination of central reluctance to relinquish authority in these key areas and the complexity of organizational redesign to support decentralization seem to explain these problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa: A Firm-Level Study of Sub-Saharan African SMEs

Journal of Chinese Political Science - Over the past few years, the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has seen a marked increase among state-owned enterprises and large...     

Designing a Property Tax Reform Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa: An Analytical Framework Applied to Kenya

Countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa are exploring options to improve local property taxation. Using the case of Kenya, this article provides an analytical framework for designing an effective property tax reform strategy. The first section presents a general conceptual model of property tax revenues, identifying four critical ratios that ultimately determine the effectiveness of any property tax system—namely, the coverage ratio, the valuation ratio, the tax ratio, and the collection ratio. The second section applies this conceptual framework to the property tax system in Kenya, focusing on the status of these four ratios and outlining possibilities for improving each ratio. The article concludes by summarizing five basic lessons from the Kenyan analysis that can assist in the development of appropriate property tax reforms in other developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.     

Cabinet ministers and inequality

Scholars and commentators increasingly wonder whether governments’ failure to address socio-economic inequalities is the result of unequal representation. Recent literature on policy responsiveness in the United States and Europe finds evidence that party and parliamentary policy proposals and actual policy outcomes are closer to the preferences of the rich than of the poor. However, the extent and character of such unequal representation remains thinly understood. Among the most thinly understood mechanisms are the political conditions that link socio-economic inequalities to unequal representation. This paper thickens our understanding of (unequal) representation by investigating the class composition of parliamentary cabinets and its effect on social welfare policy. With the aid of a new dataset on cabinet ministers’ social class, the paper shows that responsiveness to the social welfare preferences of poorer voters varies by cabinet ministers’ professional backgrounds, above and beyond the partisan orientation of the government.     

Promoting good governance in Africa: The role of the civil society as a watchdog

Corruption, maladministration, nepotism, and poor accountability have reached unprecedented levels within the African continent. Consequently, this has impeded the successful and adequate provision of public services and by extension, hampered socio‐economic development and good governance. Undeniably, the entrenchment of civil society is vital for democratic purposes and the consolidation of good governance. For the purpose of this study, Africa is regarded as a unitary entity composed of synchronized autonomous states and governments. As a result, a strict examination of available and relevant literature on the provision of civil society in Africa was applied (were a systematic review of literature irtes was undertaken). The study was able to comprehensively understand the dynamics, challenges, and benefits related to the increasing rate at which is participating in Africa's governance related issues and their overall impact. The study was also able to understand how civil society in Africa has contributed to promoting good governance. It is, however, apparent that the increasing involvement of civil society in governance issues relates to transparency, upholding the rule of law, human rights, and the fight against corruption inter alia. The study also uncovered that the increase in the participation of civil society organizations will have a positive impact on governance as they will have the capacity to act as watchdogs to ensure that governments are effective and serving the needs of the public. Going forward, it will be imperative for civil society to work hand in hand with democratically elected governments in not only fighting corruption and promoting good governance but to also ensure that there is a socio‐economic and by extension political development within the African continent.     

Corporations, collective action and corporate governance: One size does not fit all

A review of the theory and evidence on corporate governance indicates several related themes. First, corporate governance is multidimensional. Second, corporate governance is an endogenous response to a firm’s economic environment. Third, the role of different governance mechanisms varies across industries. New analysis of a sample of 1235 US corporations from 40 different industries in the year 2000 confirms the empirical regularities reported in prior research. The central policy implication of the prior research and new supporting evidence is that one size does not fit all in corporate governance.     

Cabinet structure and fiscal policy outcomes

A central explanation of fiscal performance focuses on the structure of the cabinet. However, the partisan context of cabinet decisions remains under‐explored, the findings are based on small samples and the variables of interest are often poorly operationalised. Using a new dataset of spending ministers and partisan fragmentation in the cabinets of 58 countries between 1975 and 1998, this study finds a strong positive association between the number of spending ministers and budget deficits and expenditures, as well as weaker evidence that these effects increase with partisan fragmentation.     

组阁制辨析

西方国家实行的政府内阁组阁制，究其实质，就是在民主普选的基础上，当产生了行政首脑之后，授予他（她）挑选、确定政府各部部长和其他政府组成人员的权力。组阁制的优处在于：减少了过多的选举负担，加强了执政责任和提高了行政效率。我们需要组阁制，可以采用组阁制。根据我国的实际情况，现在实行组阁制，需要严格做到以下四个方面：一是行政首长首先必须经由民主选举、民主程序产生，解决权力来源的合法性和正当性问题；二是行政首长提出的组阁名单，必须主要是政治性官员；三是组阁名单必须经党委、人民代表大会批准通过；四是加强法律监督、党的纪律监督和新闻舆论监督，形成多渠道的、有效的监督机制。     

Achilles' heels of governance: Critical capacity deficits and their role in governance failures

This article assesses the usefulness of conceptions of policy capacity for understanding policy and governance outcomes. In order to shed light on this issue, it revisits the concept of governance, derives a model of basic governance types and discusses their capacity pre‐requisites. A model of capacity is developed combining competences over three levels of activities with analysis of resource capabilities at each level. This analysis is then applied to the common modes of governance. While each mode requires all types of capacity if it is to match its theoretically optimal potential, most on‐the‐ground modes do not attain their highest potential. Moreover, each mode has a critical type of capacity which serves as its principle vulnerability; its “Achilles' heel.” Without high levels of the requisite capacity, the governance mode is unlikely to perform as expected. While some hybrid modes can serve to supplement or reinforce each other and bridge capacity gaps, other mixed forms may aggravate single mode issues. Switching between modes or adopting hybrid modes is, therefore, a non‐trivial issue in which considerations of capacity issues in general and Achilles' heel capacities in particular should be a central concern.     

Constitutionalism and experimentalist governance

This comment explores how experimentalist governance is connected to wider constitutional questions and makes two claims. First, there are good reasons to believe that experimentalist governance can only flourish in a world where the precepts of liberal democratic constitutionalism have been widely accepted and institutionalized. Experimentalist governance is part and parcel of the world of liberal democratic constitutionalism. Second, it is not only governance in Europe that can be described in experimentalist terms. The concept is also useful to describe the dynamics of European constitutionalism.     

区域治理:地区主义视角下的治理模式

冷战结束以来国际社会所发生的一系列重大变革似乎预示着一个治理社会的来临 ,治理被成功地运用于国际关系的实际操作领域。区域治理则是治理模式与地区主义进程的巧妙结合 ,而欧洲联盟通常被认为是区域治理的一个成功模式。本文分析了地区主义与区域治理的互动关系 ,介绍了欧盟的治理模式 ,并以此为基础 ,展望了未来区域治理的发展趋势     

Ethics and good governance

Public Choice - Public choice research has revealed a variety of political dilemmas associated with governance that tend to make good governance unlikely. This paper suggests that the good...