• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Democracy Chronicles

Towards better democracy everywhere.

  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy
You are here: Home / International Democracy Originals / Clientelism and Political Violence In Africa: Urgency Of Term Limits

Clientelism and Political Violence In Africa: Urgency Of Term Limits

August 3, 2019 by Ngah Gabriel Leave a Comment

FacebookLinkedInPinTweet

Clientelism and Political Violence In Africa: Urgency Of Term Limits

One of Africa’s greatest problems since the independence era in the late 1950s has been the scourge of all manner of political violence. From 1960 to 1989, One-Party repressive governments and coups d’état were rampant. The era of (re)democratisation in the early 1990s came with broad expectations including hopes that peace and security would now be the order of the day. However, internal conflict instead increased as repressive governments have persisted wearing democratic outfits.

Various theories have been advanced to understand the reasons for political violence in Africa. It seems obvious that repression in itself is an ingredient for destabilization because repression leads to dissent. However, beyond the surface level of the type of political regimes and conflict, with dictatorships being destabilizing because of their repressive nature and democracies peaceful due to their more inclusive character, I argue that underlying political violence in Africa is clientelism.

What is clientelism?

A clientelist system is one in which a “‘patron’ provides protection, services or rewards to the ‘clients’ (usually individuals of lower status) who become the patron’s political followers… In states with such features, politicians gain power through the informal networks they control through patronage.” In some African countries such as Equatorial Guinea such networks are comprised of family members while in the vast majority of other African countries stricken by clientelism it is ethnic kin running affairs of State, cynically promoting vexing propaganda of patriotism, national unity and integration.

Why clientelism is destabilising

Clientelist systems are dangerous and destabilizing because clients are usually not ready to sacrifice their perks and benefits. Because, clientelist systems are undemocratic, clients do not feel the need to be accountable to the public. This means that the public treasury is looted at will for the benefit of the patron and the clients. As such, clients are often ready to use force to maintain a freehand over the State resources. Any opposition is seen as a threat to access to wealth through holding and/or wielding State power. Certainly, the armed and security forces are equally part of the clientelist system and would be readily used to repress. Armed confrontation then emerges because of the closure of the democratic space while electoral violence becomes rampant due to clients using fore during elections to influence the outcome of the vote in favour of their incumbent, the patron.

Sources of clientelism and how to tackle it for stability in Africa

The sources of clientelism are patrimonialism common under the One-Party era and neo-patrimonialism which prevails in Africa today. Under patrimonialism, the State institutions and individuals are confounded, while under neo-patrimonialism they seem to be separated but the distinction is pervaded by the patron-client relationships. The problem with patron-client relationships is that they afflict States with One-Party rule and therefore long-stay in power. Over the years, the incumbent and his clients have gained a lot of constituency which they leverage to stay in power. This is why there have been increasing voices calling for the limitation of presidential term limits. Frequent alternation in power means that clients don’t get the time to establish this constituency and therefore will not be tempted or capable to indulge in repressive activity, instead working hard to deliver.

FacebookLinkedInPinTweet

Filed Under: International Democracy Originals Tagged With: Africa, Dictatorships

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

About Ngah Gabriel

Author Ngah Gabriel writes for Democracy Chronicles from the Republic of Cameroon. Ngah obtained a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Management (option Business Administration) from the University of Yaounde II-Soa, Cameroon in 2012. In 2015, he obtained a Master's degree in Political Science and International Relations (option MDynamics, Management and Security of Cross-Border Areas) from the same university. He is currently a Doctoral Degree student in the field of politics.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

democracy chronicles newsletter

american democracy around the web

  • “Judge Rules Against Salem Media, Regnery, Di...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 1 hour ago
  • On fifth anniversary of Khashoggi murder, CPJ...
    Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Published on: 4 hours ago
  • Niger journalist Samira Sabou arrested by uni...
    Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Published on: 4 hours ago
  • Russian blogger Aleksandr Nozdrinov sentenced...
    Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Published on: 4 hours ago
  • Join Us October 12 at 12 pm PT for Free Safeg...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 7 hours ago