Traditionella institutioner i Afrika - Ett hot mot den moderna staten?

Abstract

The function of traditional leaders in the modern states of Africa has been under debate for decades. The dominant research discourse suggests that these institutions should be integrated into the state in order to minimize the amount of parallel political spheres, since the latters are considered to affect state legitimacy negatively. But are the states in a situation where they need to compete with the traditional institutions in order to gain more legitimacy? If so, is the struggle for legitimacy a zero-sum game where there can only be one winner? Or is it possible for these institutions to co-exist or even benefit from each other? The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to research if, and to what extent, African citizens’ confidence in traditional institutions has an effect on state legitimacy. This has been done by statistically analyzing the data from the latest completed round of the Afrobarometer survey, a study that has been conducted in 20 different countries across West- and Northeast Africa. The results of this thesis show that there in fact is a positive correlation between perceptions towards traditional institutions and state legitimacy, which means that instead of undermining it, confidence in these institutions can actually increase the legitimacy of the state. Therefore, traditional institutions could, instead of being a threat, be considered as an asset for strengthening the capacity and development of West- and Northeast African states.