States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control - Second Edition (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics) ebook

by Jeffrey Herbst

This book discusses not only the history and politics of state creation and consolidation, but also evaluates policy alternatives that might address some of the fundamental political challenges Africans states face today.

Herbst's arguments will excite controversy among students of African history and politics, who have built up an extensive story about . Series: Princeton Studies in International History and Politics (Book 149).

Herbst's arguments will excite controversy among students of African history and politics, who have built up an extensive story about European transformations of African politics. His analysis raises doubts about how deeply those transformations went; rather, he maintains that durable conditions of topography and social structure have long constrained African state formation. -Charles Tilly, Columbia University, author of Durable Inquality.

States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control is a book on African state-building by Jeffrey Herbst, former Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The book was a co-winner of the 2001 Gregory Luebbert Book Award from the American Political Science Association in comparative politics. It was also a finalist for the 2001 Herskovits Prize awarded by the African Studies Association.

Series: Princeton Studies in International History and Politics. Part two: the construction of states in africa. Two Power and Space in Precolonial Africa. Precolonial rulers in Africa struggled over the centuries to extend their power.

Princeton Studies in International History and Politics). The premise of "States and Power in Africa" is that Africa's underdevelopment and instability can in part be explained by the manner in which states were forged, and the relationships they maintain with their people. Herbst concludes that the ability of a state to project enough power to tax a population fairly and efficiently is both a mark of stability and development. Obviously this is something that doesn't exist in any real sense in Africa, so it makes for a provocative argument. But it's one that I'm beginning to sense has real merit.

Power in Africa, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective.

In States and Power in Africa, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective. Herbst's bold contention-that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent-is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything.

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Extract of sample "States and power in Africa:comparative lessons in authority and control by J. Herbst". However, time and again history has taught us, whether it is politics, business or sports; leadership, power and influence play a bigger role than possessing only talent or money (Becker). This write-up dwells upon the ways in which I would exercise power, authority and influence at my workplace.

In his groundbreaking book, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective, examining the . He is the author of "Politics of Reform in Ghana 1982-1991" and "State Politics in Zimbabwe".

In his groundbreaking book, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective, examining the problem of state consolidation from the precolonial period, through the short but intense interlude of European colonialism, to the modern era of independent states.

Theories of international relations, assumed to be universally applicable, have failed to explain the creation of states in Africa. There, the interaction of power and space is dramatically different from what occurred in Europe. In States and Power in Africa, Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective. Herbst's bold contention―that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent―is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything.

This revised edition includes a new preface in which the author links the enormous changes that have taken place in Africa over the past fifteen years to long-term state consolidation. The final chapter on policy prescriptions has also been revised to reflect the evolution of African and international responses to state failure.

Meri

A great read

snowball

I published my extensive grad school notes at my For Unofficial Use Only page but I've included a brief summary here. This book is not going to be a thrilling read for most people but its mandatory reading to begin to study Africa.

In this book, Herbst argues that African leaders (pre, during, and post-colonization) have all faced similar issues when attempting to rule and have often came to the same conclusions on how to solve their problems. He compares the formation of African states to Europe. He claims that the consolidation of power over distance, as the dependent variable, is affected by the costs of extending power, the nature of boundaries, and the nature of the state system. These 3 factors matter in every period.
He wants to be a thicker structuralist. If everyone makes the same choices due to environment—then what’s the point of examining individuals though. While Herbst says he’s not geographically deterministic—he kind of is as he goes on.

His conclusion:
If you accept Herbst's argument—the incentives that decision makers make (thick sturct) are not directing them toward state building because of high cost of projecting power (substitute potential access to money via foreign AID vs. taxation), borders continue to be recognized (territory not threatened), internal sovereignty is eroded (much more internal intervention). These are all disincentives to state building—so we (intl community) need to change these incentives. Cost of projecting can’t be directly affected aside from pulling aid and making collection of taxes more important. One could create a new international norm that says sovereign states must act like it—if we decertified Somalia then Somalialand could be recognized.

How do we distribute AID—shift to NGOs—but this hasn’t been very effective—NGOs have been usurping sovereignty from government. Can AID can be only given to reforming governments—or given to develop specific institutions like taxation. (Could AID be matched to tax revenues collected by the government?)