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Peace, Security & Human Rights / Working Paper

Crisis of the State and Civil Domains in Africa

06/12/2006 By Mariano Aguirre Ernst, David Sogge

Whenever the debate about fragile, weak or failed states is raised, most sub-Saharan African countries are referred to by way of example.

When the list of collapsed states is mentioned Somalia comes to mind, and in the previous decade Sierra Leone and Liberia. For some time Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were highlighted as fragmented states in which central administration did not control the national territory as a whole.

Even the so-called big States (Nigeria, DRC, Ethiopia, Sudan and Angola) suffer from severe structural problems.

Only South Africa and Botswana emerge, in general, as states with efficient administrations, although their internal problems are still serious.

The remaining states in the continent do not guarantee security or rights, and neither do they facilitate citizens’ access to public and private goods.They do not control the territory as a whole from the point of view of public security, administration of justice and provision of services, and they do not have the legitimate monopoly of the use of force.

Historian Martin Meredith suggests that the majority of African states "are no longer instruments capable of serving the public good. Indeed, far from being able to provide aid and  protection to their citizens, African governments and the vampire-like politicians that run them are regarded by the populations they rule as yet another burden they have to bear in the struggle for survival".

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Keywords

Failed states Fragile state Sub-Saharan Africa

Bio author: Mariano Aguirre Ernst

Mariano Aguirre has been Director of the Centro de Investigación para la Paz, in Madrid, and Coordinator of programmes on peace and conflicts at the Ford Foundation, in New York. Mariano Aguirre publishes articles in various media in Spain and internationally such as OpenDemocracy, Le monde diplomatique, El Correo, La Vanguardia, Maniere de voir, AlertNet, Enjeux Internationaux, Temas, El País, Política Exterior, Debate, BBC World Service, Radio Netherland, Radio Nacional de España, Radio France International, Mediterranean Politics and CNN Spain.

Bio author: David Sogge

David Sogge is a Fellow at the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam. He works as an independent analyst.