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ID: 182868

One Size Fits All: the Origins of Mixed Governance in Namibia / Chlouba, Vladimir

Chlouba, Vladimir	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

While much has been written about the resurgence of traditional authorities in sub-Saharan Africa, we know less about what explains differences in the institutional and regulatory frameworks that link traditional leaders to formal governments. Even though they have rarely been applied to resurging traditional leaders, existing theories of institutional choice are likely to yield important insights when applied to different models of mixed governance. In this article, the author closely examines the origins of the institutional framework that presently governs the relations between the central government and traditional authorities in Namibia. The author finds that both exogenous motivations such as the ideology of policymakers and endogenous determinants such as the potential for electoral mobilization matter for understanding the forms that mixed governance takes.

Key Words

Namibia ; Traditional Authority ; Institutional Choice ; Core-Periphery Relations ; Mixed Governance

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ID: 174418

Traditional Authority and State Legitimacy: Evidence From Namibia / Chlouba, Vladimir

Chlouba, Vladimir	Journal Article
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Do African traditional leaders weaken state legitimacy at the local level? Past scholarship raises the possibility that unelected chiefs might undermine trust in national-level institutions. Relying on an original map of areas governed by chiefs and survey data from Namibia, this study examines whether respondents governed by traditional leaders are less likely to trust state institutions. The main finding is that compared to individuals not living under traditional authority, chiefdom residents are more likely to trust government institutions. Partially to alleviate the concern that chiefdom residence is endogenous to trust in national-level institutions, this article uses a genetic matching strategy to compare relatively similar individuals. A further finding is that the association between chiefdom residence and trust in state institutions is considerably weaker and less statistically significant for individuals who do not share ethnicity with their chief. This evidence suggests that traditional leaders’ ability to complement state institutions at the local level is compromised by ethnic diversity.

Key Words

Namibia ; Authority ; Legitimacy ; Chiefs ; Traditional Governance ; Chiefdom

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