Traditional institutions in Africa: past and present

Neupert-Wentz, Clara and Muller-Crepon, Carl (2023) Traditional institutions in Africa: past and present. Political Science Research and Methods. ISSN 2049-8470

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Abstract

To what degree and why are traditional institutions persistent? Following up the literature on the long-term effects of precolonial institutions in Africa, we investigate whether and where today's traditional institutions mirror their precolonial predecessors. We do so by linking data on contemporary traditional institutions of African ethnic groups with Murdock's historical Ethnographic Atlas. We find a robust association between past and present levels of institutional complexity, differentiating between institutions’ political centralization and functional differentiation. However, this persistence originates almost exclusively from former British colonies governed with more reliance on precolonial institutions than other colonies, in particular French ones. These findings contribute to research on the development and effects of traditional institutions, highlighting the need to account for varying persistence of traditional institutions.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-...
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General) J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History J Political Science > JQ Political institutions Asia
Date Deposited:	23 Nov 2023 11:27
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2024 21:12
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/120839

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