Independence and statehood

Question 1

What does state hardness refer to? (Forrest)

Answer 1

.structural autonomy whereby state institutions and actors in state remove themselves from influences of societal actors and act independently of social forces

.The political penetration of society

.extraction of resources from the most productive economic sectors

.ideological legitimation

Question 2

Examples of African states trying to deal with the autonomy issues (Forrest)

Answer 2

• In Zaire area of partial autonomy set up to make possible the domination of societal forces, state sought to narrow scope of permissible political participation and interest articulation
• Zambia well-educated public servants avoid interaction with public
• Countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya made efforts through creation of one party

HOWEVER

informal connection amongst national elites, social forces and local leaders still present

Question 3

How did Zaire attempt to penetrate rural areas? (Forrest)

Answer 3

• closely control but not abolish local authority. Regional commissioners attempted to penetrate by supervising traditional courts
• However regional commissioners were constrained by bureaucratic inefficiency, strong local resistance

Question 4

What is political penetration like in Cameroon? (Forrest)

Answer 4

• Cameroon has seen most effective political penetration, integration of regional administrators into national bureaucracy
• However, village socio-political organisations and authority structures controlled by elders were able to function independently of the state

Question 5

How African states attempted to improve economic capture? (Forrest)

Answer 5

• Cooperatives set up in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania
• Tanzanian Ujamma villages weren’t able to stop hiding in the economy
• However marketing cooperative and then parastatals and then official tradining cooperative were able to ensure bureaucratic control of marketing and crop purchasing in rural Tanzania

Question 6

What does Mengisteab suggest about integration?

Answer 6

It’s important but African economies are most reliant on global market and most marginlised within it

Question 7

What happened to African share in global exports in 1970 and 1998? (Lawson)

Answer 7

-2.4% in 1970 to 1.3% in 1998

Question 8

How does Evans distinguish between a predatory and developmental state?

Answer 8

• A predatory state like Zaire disorganises society

- A developmental state organises society

Question 9

What did Callaghy suggest the major issue Africa was in 1980

Answer 9

“the absence of central state authority and the resulting search for it”

Question 10

What were the four strategies African Elites perused for state consolidation? and an example they perused it. (Lawson)

Answer 10

.jurdicial reconsolidation of the borders. Tackled by re cementing colonial borders to deal with succession movements i.e Congo nearly torn apart at independence

.reinsulation of the state from popular pressure, colonial state was never meant to consider popular will

.power concentration and projection. Projecting infrasturctural power and creating personal networks

.construction of informal networks to bridge the chasm between the state and society.

Question 11

What does Ake suggest about marginalisation?

Answer 11

Marginalisation will help the evolution of an endogenous development agenda