The Role of Traditional Leaders in African State Building

• In Event: The Politics of Customary Institutions: Comparative Data and Analysis

Abstract

State building has been a key issue for African states since their independence. Non-state actors can have a crucial role as states attempt to project power. This paper investigates whether traditional leaders help or hinder state building processes in rural Africa. Using data from 25 African countries, my empirical strategy compares areas where traditional leaders have more local power to areas where they are less influential and looks at their respective levels of state capacity. I combine geocoded responses to the Afrobarometer and Demographic and Health Surveys to implement a spatial regression discontinuity design. I find that the effect of traditional leaders on state building hinges on whether they are incorporated into the state apparatus.

Author

• Soeren Jannik Henn, IPA & University of Chicago