Case studies / Working Paper
Transition and legitimacy in African States: the cases of Somalia and Uganda
08/12/2005 By Martin Doornbos
With all the traumatic transitions that African states have been subject to in recent decades, it is only to be expected that these should have deeply affected the orientations on and appreciation of the state both by its citizens in Africa and by observers elsewhere.
The transitions concerned have been no less than dramatic. African states at the time of independence had been the focus of high expectations about the developmental role they were going to play.
They were then seen as ‘prime movers’ on many fronts, and on all kinds of issues it was the state which was expected to carry responsibility and take the initiative.
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Keywords
Democracy aid Democratic control Democratisation Somalia UgandaBio author: Martin Doornbos
Martin Doornbos is also Visiting Professor of Development Studies at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda. He has extensively researched on state-society dynamics in Africa (especially in the Horn and in Uganda) and India, with a particular focus on the state-identity nexus.
