Introduction
Having won their political independence, the people of Africa have joined in about 1960 the development projects, which overall objectives, despite distinctions in ideological discourses, more or less coincided with the purposes pursued in other regions such as Asia and Latin America. When some countries of Asia and Latin America during the decades of developing the first half of the twentieth century, have begun the process of industrialization, which has given in some cases competitive results in the global market, “the successful development” in practice turned to be growth without development, which in Africa remained within the limits of an old division of labor, which is the provision of raw materials. The state legitimacy could be considered as one of the most influential reasons for such “underdevelopment” in Africa.” This paper analyzes the book “State Legitimacy and Development in Africa” by Pierre Englebert, which states that the distinctions in economic performance within Africa and similarly in the developing world can be related to differences in historical state legitimacy. The paper presents the analysis as a review and a personal evaluation of this book.
Summary
The book’s main thesis derives from the connection of the words in the title, as the author states the idea that the development in Africa is related to state legitimacy. This relation is translated as the underdevelopment of any particular African country is related to the state illegitimacy in that country and vice versa.
Following the thesis, to avoid confusion in the terms, the author started the introduction of the book as a definition of the crucial terms that the author’s main idea is relied on. Thus, according to the book, the state is legitimate when “its structures have evolved endogenously to its own society, and there is some level of historical continuity to its institutions”
The illegitimacy of many African states is based on the fact that their origins were imported due to the colonization process. Thus all the factors that were mentioned as influential in making a state legitimate such as the structure and the political and economic institutions were created by the colonization and subsequently later were influenced by the leaders of the post-colonial era that continued the same policy.
Among the distinctions in selecting Africa particularly as an example of such illegitimacy could be considered the fact that although “low-legitimacy” states are not unique to Africa, “their concentration in the continent is unique among all regions of the world and accounts in part for the differential in economic performance between Africa and the rest of the world.”
The first two chapters of the book put into detailed analysis the indicators that affect the state legitimacy in Africa, such as state capacity and developmental policies and the variables based on which they can measure, then in chapter three, the performance of different countries was analyzed based on the different previous indicators.
As examples of countries with state legitimacy, the author mentions Botswana, Mauritius which, through various empirical studies, are analyzed and through historical study shown that they do not share the same position as other underdeveloped countries. The historical and the political boundaries of the aforementioned countries were not created by colonization; instead, they were coupled into the country’s history and culture.
Accordingly, this is one aspect of legitimacy that is mentioned in the introduction of the book, which is the historical legitimacy, and thus it can be considered as a distinctive factor that can separate them from other, in these instances, less successful countries such as Somalia, Mauritania, or Guinea. Somalia is several times mentioned as an example of underdevelopment throughout the book, this country and the factors that play the major roles are presented in the book as a country with horizontal legitimacy. “Somalia, for instance, is a highly homogenous country from a cultural point of view, with its population comprising more than 90 percent of Somali. Yet it had inherited a territorial structure that fails to comprise significant segments of Somali, despite the unification at the independence of British Somaliland and Italian Somalia”. In addition, the existence of Somali minorities in the neighboring countries made the borders between them artificial “has fed wars with and within Ethiopia, and has led a Somali president to complain.”
As an affirmation of his thesis, the author supports his quantitative data that are generously scattered throughout the book through stories of success and failure that are the main theme of the seventh chapter. The variable control of the research is analyzed through the context of the author’s thesis, where the data was used to summarize that “the absence of state legitimacy results in a double source of economic losses: a reduction in state capacity and a reaction of societal disengagement.”
The book’s conclusion sums up the presented ideas by pointing out the flaws in evaluating the economic state of African countries and the subsequent decisions that were made accordingly. The conclusion cites many sources according to the incorrect understanding of the situation in Africa and accordingly implementing inadequate policies. “The systematic weakness of implementation of adjustment packages suggests that understanding the roots of policy choices in Africa is more important than recommending the adoption of specific policies without an understanding of their context.”
Evaluation
The book provides an interesting thesis and a detailed explanation that brings new breath in the area of theoretical studies considering the economic state in Africa. The book is interesting to read as it provides right away from its introduction an overall review of the thesis, that emphasize the different approach taken by the author to evaluate African development. The book’s chapters are logically divided, and the analysis is fluid in a way that the information is delivered deeper as the reader becomes more familiar with the terms and the definitions.
The book is objective in providing its arguments as every claim is supported by rich data that can be examined independently to evaluate each conclusion. As an example, in chapter seven, discussing the stories of success and failures, the author did not promote a specific government or policy rather than outlining the main factors for comparison, which are based on the data collected in other works such as Young, Asiwaju, Murdock and etc. However, the calculations are made by the author himself, which that the data were available, but the analytical approach was different. In implementing such an approach, the reader, although directed by the author, is not forced into the conclusion, but he can witness the evidence independently.
The book can be recommended to readers from various study levels as each one will find it useful and easy to follow. The advanced reader can make benefits from the various data and the quantitative statistical approaches made by the author to justify his claims, whereas undergraduates can make use of the thesis and the arguments that are more accessible to that level.
Personally, the book provided an additional view of the effects of colonization as a more influential factor than previously anticipated. Also, the idea of state legitimacy was interesting as the author provided a new definition that is more adapted to the African history of colonization, wars, and rebels. In that manner, the previous ideas were not entirely new, rather than presented in a more innovative manner and accordingly reinforced the concept that not only political history will affect the development of a country, but the consequent leaders and their policy. Whether this policy will distance itself from the previous regime or follow its lead? In that context, the book achieved its goal in delivering its idea, however some ideas, although logically follow the thesis they fell out of the global situation, such as questioning the reason why the world community does not reconsider the state boundaries in Africa.
Conclusion
The original thesis and the different stories of Africa’s successes and misfortunes make this book one of the best in the field of African studies. The nuances provided in this book shifted the opinions that were established on the reasons for the overall poverty and the weak state capacity in Africa, after which it can be assumed that it will change the implemented policy toward this continent or, in some cases, the different adjustments will be made although not as radical as some recommended by the author, they will have a certain effect.
Works Cited
Englebert, Pierre. State legitimacy and development in Africa. Boulder, Colo. [u.a.]: Rienner, 2002.