States and Power in Africa : Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control

291 Pages·2000·3.95 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Herbst

STATES AND POWER IN AFRICA
PRINCETON STUDIES IN INTERNATIONAL HISTORY AND POLITICS
Series Editors
Jack L. Syder, Marc Trachtenberg, and Fareed Zakaria
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STATES AND POWER
IN AFRICA
COMPARATIVE LESSONS IN
AUTHORITY AND CONTROL
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Written under the auspices of the
Center of International Studies, Princeton University
Copyright q 2000 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Reserved
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Herbst, Jeffrey Ira.
States and power in Africa : comparative lessons in authority and control /
Jeffrey Herbst.
p. cm. —(Princeton studies in international history and politics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-01027-7 (cloth : alk. paper).—
ISBN 0-691-01028-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Africa—Politics and government. 2. Power (Social sciences)—Africa.
I. Title. II. Series.
JQ1875.H47 2000
303.38096—dc21 99-41736
This book has been composed in Galliard
The paper used in this publication
meets the minimum requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997)
(Permanence of Paper)
www.pup.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
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To our children
MATTHEW, SPENCER, AND ALANA
For now when we are close and
for when we are apart

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Introduction 3
PART ONE: THE CHALLENGE OF STATE-BUILDING
IN AFRICA 9
One
The Challenge of State-Building in Africa 11
PART TWO: THE CONSTRUCTION OF STATES
IN AFRICA 33
Two
Power and Space in Precolonial Africa 35
Three
The Europeans and the African Problem 58
Four
The Political Kingdom in Independent Africa 97
PART THREE: NATIONAL DESIGN AND DOMESTIC
POLITICS 137
Five
National Design and the Broadcasting of Power 139
Six
Chiefs, States, and the Land 173
PART FOUR: BOUNDARIES AND POWER 199
Seven
The Coin of the African Realm 201
Eight
The Politics of Migration and Citizenship 227
PART FIVE: CONCLUSION 249
Nine
The Past and the Future of State Power in Africa 251
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Figures
1.1. Possible Paths to State Consolidation 28
2.1. Paths to State Consolidation in Precolonial Africa 57
3.1. Paths to State Consolidation in Colonial Africa 95
4.1. Government Revenue over Time 122
4.2. Expenditures and Deficits 123
4.3. Aid and Deficits 125
4.4. Paths to State Consolidation in Independent Africa 135
5.1. Countries with Difficult Political Geographies 148
5.2. Hinterland Countries 153
5.3. Countries with Favorable Geographies 156
5.4. Small Countries 158
5.5. Neutral Geography 160
5.6. Road Density over Time 165
5.7. Mali and D.R.O.C. Compared 168
Maps
2.1. A Reproduction of Bello’s Map of Central Africa 47
2.2. Map Drawn by Sultan Njoya of Bamum when offering his
Kingdom to British Suzerainty in 1915 48
3.1. European Penetration to 1880 67
3.2. The Scramble 68
3.3. Colonial Africa 69
Tables
1.1. Comparative Population Densities over Time 16
3.1. Road Density in Colonial Africa 86
4.1. Structure of Government Revenue 117
4.2. Comparative Structure of Central Government Revenue 120
5.1. African Countries by Size 146
5.2. African National Design 161
5.3. Road Density over Time 162