Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa

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Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa. / Cappelen, Christoffer; Sorens, Jason.

In: Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol. 56, No. 2, 2018, p. 195-215.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Cappelen, C & Sorens, J 2018, 'Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa', Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 195-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2017.1404666

APA

Cappelen, C., & Sorens, J. (2018). Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa. Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 56(2), 195-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2017.1404666

Vancouver

Cappelen C, Sorens J. Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa. Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. 2018;56(2):195-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2017.1404666

Author

Cappelen, Christoffer ; Sorens, Jason. / Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa. In: Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. 2018 ; Vol. 56, No. 2. pp. 195-215.

Bibtex

@article{aaa6f850f55e4a3a82684803479f20ae,
title = "Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa",
abstract = "What explains contemporary variation in state capacity across African states? Recent research has focused on the possible role played by colonial and pre-colonial institutions. This paper investigates the way in which colonial and pre-colonial institutions interacted to affect the public legitimacy and coercive capacity of African states on independence. A coherent configuration of historical institutions, pre-colonial centralisation combined with colonial indirect rule through traditionally legitimate rulers, contrasts with the incoherent and comparatively illegitimate configurations of pre-colonial decentralisation with traditional rule and pre-colonial centralisation with colonial non-traditional or direct rule. The paper tests the theoretical expectations in a historical instrumental-variables framework.",
keywords = "State-building, state capacity, colonialism, economic history, political development",
author = "Christoffer Cappelen and Jason Sorens",
year = "2018",
doi = "10.1080/14662043.2017.1404666",
language = "English",
volume = "56",
pages = "195--215",
journal = "Commonwealth and Comparative Politics",
issn = "1466-2043",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pre-colonial centralisation, traditional indirect rule, and state capacity in Africa

AU - Cappelen, Christoffer

AU - Sorens, Jason

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - What explains contemporary variation in state capacity across African states? Recent research has focused on the possible role played by colonial and pre-colonial institutions. This paper investigates the way in which colonial and pre-colonial institutions interacted to affect the public legitimacy and coercive capacity of African states on independence. A coherent configuration of historical institutions, pre-colonial centralisation combined with colonial indirect rule through traditionally legitimate rulers, contrasts with the incoherent and comparatively illegitimate configurations of pre-colonial decentralisation with traditional rule and pre-colonial centralisation with colonial non-traditional or direct rule. The paper tests the theoretical expectations in a historical instrumental-variables framework.

AB - What explains contemporary variation in state capacity across African states? Recent research has focused on the possible role played by colonial and pre-colonial institutions. This paper investigates the way in which colonial and pre-colonial institutions interacted to affect the public legitimacy and coercive capacity of African states on independence. A coherent configuration of historical institutions, pre-colonial centralisation combined with colonial indirect rule through traditionally legitimate rulers, contrasts with the incoherent and comparatively illegitimate configurations of pre-colonial decentralisation with traditional rule and pre-colonial centralisation with colonial non-traditional or direct rule. The paper tests the theoretical expectations in a historical instrumental-variables framework.

KW - State-building

KW - state capacity

KW - colonialism

KW - economic history

KW - political development

U2 - 10.1080/14662043.2017.1404666

DO - 10.1080/14662043.2017.1404666

M3 - Journal article

VL - 56

SP - 195

EP - 215

JO - Commonwealth and Comparative Politics

JF - Commonwealth and Comparative Politics

SN - 1466-2043

IS - 2

ER -

ID: 210197791