Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa

Whether it is possible to ensure stability, peace and social cohesion in countries with deep societal divisions where identity prevails over other bases of mobilisation is one of the central political questions of our time. What type of institutional design suits deeply mobilised cleavages? This cha...

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Tác giả chính: Fiseha, Assefa
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Được phát hành: Taylor & Francis 2022
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author Fiseha, Assefa
author_browse Fiseha, Assefa
author_facet Fiseha, Assefa
author_sort Fiseha, Assefa
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Whether it is possible to ensure stability, peace and social cohesion in countries with deep societal divisions where identity prevails over other bases of mobilisation is one of the central political questions of our time. What type of institutional design suits deeply mobilised cleavages? This chapter discusses the different institutional approaches adopted in three federations of Africa to manage politically mobilised cleavages, and examines whether institutional design matters in addressing demands from politically mobilised groups. The main issue is whether such divisions should be treated as building-blocks for political engagement and institutions built around them, or rather be diffused and deliberately divided into several sub-units. It is argued that institutional design does matter, particularly when there are deep territorially-based divisions, and proposes consociational parliamentary federations as opposed to integrationist presidential federations. The latter aim to divide major ethnic groups into many small-size states denying their self-government right, while the former aim to empower groups by redrawing territories to ensure they become a majority at sub-state level. They also bring the major political actors into power and minimise the risks of ‘winner-takes-all’ politics associated with presidential systems.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-935582025-08-13T13:41:28Z Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa Fiseha, Assefa Federalism, Devolution, Territorially-Based Cleavages, Africa thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government Whether it is possible to ensure stability, peace and social cohesion in countries with deep societal divisions where identity prevails over other bases of mobilisation is one of the central political questions of our time. What type of institutional design suits deeply mobilised cleavages? This chapter discusses the different institutional approaches adopted in three federations of Africa to manage politically mobilised cleavages, and examines whether institutional design matters in addressing demands from politically mobilised groups. The main issue is whether such divisions should be treated as building-blocks for political engagement and institutions built around them, or rather be diffused and deliberately divided into several sub-units. It is argued that institutional design does matter, particularly when there are deep territorially-based divisions, and proposes consociational parliamentary federations as opposed to integrationist presidential federations. The latter aim to divide major ethnic groups into many small-size states denying their self-government right, while the former aim to empower groups by redrawing territories to ensure they become a majority at sub-state level. They also bring the major political actors into power and minimise the risks of ‘winner-takes-all’ politics associated with presidential systems. 2022-11-12T04:03:07Z 2022-11-12T04:03:07Z 2022-11-11T13:07:02Z 2023 chapter https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/59231 9781032207926 9781032207995 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/93558 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/59231/1/9781003265306_10.4324_9781003265306-4.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/59231/1/9781003265306_10.4324_9781003265306-4.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003265306-4 10.4324/9781003265306-4 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 Contemporary Governance Challenges in the Horn of Africa Addis Ababa University da07314d-684b-4655-9398-6f7271557ad9 9781032207926 9781032207995 Routledge 50 open access
spellingShingle Federalism, Devolution, Territorially-Based Cleavages, Africa
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
Fiseha, Assefa
Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa
title Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa
title_full Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa
title_fullStr Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa
title_full_unstemmed Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa
title_short Chapter 4 Federalism, devolution, and territorially-based cleavages in Africa
title_sort chapter 4 federalism devolution and territorially based cleavages in africa
topic Federalism, Devolution, Territorially-Based Cleavages, Africa
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
topic_facet Federalism, Devolution, Territorially-Based Cleavages, Africa
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
thema EDItEUR::L Law::LN Laws of specific jurisdictions and specific areas of law::LND Constitutional and administrative law: general::LNDH Government powers
thema EDItEUR::G Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTU Peace studies and conflict resolution
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/59231
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