The democraticness of traditional political systems in Africa

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The democraticness of traditional political systems in Africa. / Neupert-Wentz, Clara; Kromrey, Daniela; Bayer, Axel.

In: Democratization, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2022, p. 296-319.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Author

Neupert-Wentz, Clara ; Kromrey, Daniela ; Bayer, Axel. / The democraticness of traditional political systems in Africa. In: Democratization. 2022 ; Vol. 29, No. 2. pp. 296-319.

Bibtex

@article{96a0e4bb0f8f4f89a22497e5fba21a3a,

title = "The democraticness of traditional political systems in Africa",

abstract = "Traditional political systems (TPS) are an important part of the political landscape in Africa. They govern subnational communities and differ from nation states, both in their institutional set-up as well as in their legitimacy. Yet, we have little comparative knowledge on these political systems and, in particular, whether they can be described as democratic. In this article, we analyse the democraticness of TPS based on a new expert survey. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we show that the more than 140 ethnic groups we analyse vary meaningfully in their democraticness. Measures of public preference input and of political process control contribute particularly to a latent measure of democraticness. Furthermore, we find some indication for regionally interdependent institutions, with slightly more democratic systems in Southern Africa and less democratic systems in West Africa. Yet, no such interdependence exists between the state and the group level. Finally, we find that more hierarchically organized political systems, kings, and chiefs, as well as those organized in segments, are on average less democratic, while the presence of elders is associated with higher levels of democraticness.",

keywords = "Africa, traditional institutions, democraticness, survey research, measurement, latent variable, confirmatory factor analysis, DEMOCRACY, INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNANCE, CHIEFS, STATE",

author = "Clara Neupert-Wentz and Daniela Kromrey and Axel Bayer",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1080/13510347.2021.1953476",

language = "English",

volume = "29",

pages = "296--319",

journal = "Democratization",

issn = "1351-0347",

publisher = "Routledge",

number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The democraticness of traditional political systems in Africa

AU - Neupert-Wentz, Clara

AU - Kromrey, Daniela

AU - Bayer, Axel

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Traditional political systems (TPS) are an important part of the political landscape in Africa. They govern subnational communities and differ from nation states, both in their institutional set-up as well as in their legitimacy. Yet, we have little comparative knowledge on these political systems and, in particular, whether they can be described as democratic. In this article, we analyse the democraticness of TPS based on a new expert survey. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we show that the more than 140 ethnic groups we analyse vary meaningfully in their democraticness. Measures of public preference input and of political process control contribute particularly to a latent measure of democraticness. Furthermore, we find some indication for regionally interdependent institutions, with slightly more democratic systems in Southern Africa and less democratic systems in West Africa. Yet, no such interdependence exists between the state and the group level. Finally, we find that more hierarchically organized political systems, kings, and chiefs, as well as those organized in segments, are on average less democratic, while the presence of elders is associated with higher levels of democraticness.

AB - Traditional political systems (TPS) are an important part of the political landscape in Africa. They govern subnational communities and differ from nation states, both in their institutional set-up as well as in their legitimacy. Yet, we have little comparative knowledge on these political systems and, in particular, whether they can be described as democratic. In this article, we analyse the democraticness of TPS based on a new expert survey. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we show that the more than 140 ethnic groups we analyse vary meaningfully in their democraticness. Measures of public preference input and of political process control contribute particularly to a latent measure of democraticness. Furthermore, we find some indication for regionally interdependent institutions, with slightly more democratic systems in Southern Africa and less democratic systems in West Africa. Yet, no such interdependence exists between the state and the group level. Finally, we find that more hierarchically organized political systems, kings, and chiefs, as well as those organized in segments, are on average less democratic, while the presence of elders is associated with higher levels of democraticness.

KW - Africa

KW - traditional institutions

KW - democraticness

KW - survey research

KW - measurement

KW - latent variable

KW - confirmatory factor analysis

KW - DEMOCRACY

KW - INSTITUTIONS

KW - GOVERNANCE

KW - CHIEFS

KW - STATE

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111362986&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13510347.2021.1953476

DO - 10.1080/13510347.2021.1953476

M3 - Journal article

VL - 29

SP - 296

EP - 319

JO - Democratization

JF - Democratization

SN - 1351-0347

IS - 2

ER -

Department of Political Science