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State of Africa – Parameters and Legacies of Governance 69 PART 2 Regional and Continental Reconstruction CHAPTER 5 Politics and Governance in Africa John Akokpari Introduction A proper understanding of the context in which African states deal with the myriad of issues facing them requires an appreciation of the nature of politics and governance on the continent.1 The issues, sufÀce to say, are numerous and complex. Many of Africa’s problems can be directly or indirectly linked to questions of governance: some are causes of poor governance, whereas others are a result of it. Improved state capacity and governance standards offer the beginnings of solutions for many areas identiÀed as problems for Africa in this chapter; corruption and the HIV/Aids pandemic are but two of them. Working African integration projects will not materialise under conditions of poor governance. Yet many of Africa’s developmental challenges are regional by nature, and only solutions that involve all relevant actors will result in any real progress. It is, therefore, crucial that the link between governance and regional cooperation capacity is thoroughly understood. This chapter thus seeks to highlight some of the disconcerting features of governance in Africa. It attempts to show how the failure to order governance would potentially undermine any initiatives towards continental development and integration. We argue further that continental initiatives have faltered as a result of the inauspicious political culture both at national and regional levels. We begin the analysis by throwing some light on the notion of ‘governance’. Governance as a concept ‘Governance’ is a rather broad term that refers to the various ways through which social life is coordinated. Rhodes posits that the term is used so broadly that it can lose all sense of meaning. However, he argues that governance can be salvaged when it refers to self-organising, inter-organisational networks.2 Such networks are likely to belong to both the state and society, and hence government represents one of the institutions engaged in governance. From this base, governance can measure the extent to which government networks deliver services.3 70 Africa Institute of South Africa PART 2 Regional and Continental Reconstruction Politics and Governance in Africa In order to inÁuence government reform, the World Bank and other international Ànancial institutions (IFIs) have increasingly encouraged ‘good governance’. As set out by the bank, good governance includes some or all of the following characteristics: [A]n efÀcient public service; an independent judicial system and legal framework to enforce contracts; the accountable administration of public funds; an independent public auditor, responsible to a representative legislature; respect for the law and human rights at all levels of government; a pluralistic institutional structure, and a free press.4 Good governance can also be deÀned as the presence of institutions that provide predictable, impartial and consistently enforced rules.5 Thus it relates to the capacity of a state insofar as it is able to enforce policies conducive to economic growth, and to provide good governance to society and markets.6 As such, good governance refers to the effectiveness of democratic institutions. Under authoritarian regimes, Rhodes would describe the state’s propensity to ‘deliver services’ as low. The state apparatus is unlikely to be particularly concerned about providing development or welfare to its citizens. Regional or international organisations – with the exception of military organisations – exist for the purpose of achieving some tangible economic or developmental objectives. Poorly governed states are by deÀnition not disposed to participating in such projects, or if they do, their activism in them will be limited. Hence, any will to actively promote regional or international integration will be diluted at best in poorly governed states, characterised by authoritarianism and low or no citizen participation. The prevalence of this tendency may be attributed to the nature of Africa’s political culture and reÁects some of the broader features of governance. Political culture and features of governance in Africa Political culture can be understood in terms of the mores, norms, customs and habits related to the discipline of politics in a given population.7 How civic duty is understood, what constitutes legitimate government, what norms and practices have been adopted and how public participation in decision-making takes place are all questions that help deÀne a political culture. Discussion about the political culture of Africa is inevitably prone to generalisations and broad assumptions, but such analysis has its uses: Africa’s political landscape can be understood in terms of general trends...

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