Comparing Governance by Traditional and State Institutions in the DRC

• In Event: The State and Traditional Governance Nexus: Empirical Evidence from Africa

Abstract

How do traditional governance institutions compare to state structures? Are traditional chiefs more effective than state administrators in providing local public goods in a setting of state fragility? Are traditional chiefs perceived as more legitimate by the population when the state is weak? Which governance model is better for promoting growth? Traditional leaders might offer a way to compensate for state weakness. But, they could further limit the resources available to the state and undermine its authority. This project offers a unique opportunity to compare these governance models. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, localities switch from traditional governance, ruled by a hereditary chief, to state governance, governed by a state appointed administrator, at a population threshold. This institutional rule allows us to study the effects of the different governance models on public goods provision, development outcomes, and state legitimacy, by surveying localities just below and just above the population threshold. I survey 112 localities in 4 provinces of the Eastern DRC, a setting of extreme state fragility. The findings will have implications for other countries with hybrid governance models across the African continent (e.g. Nigeria and Somalia) and beyond (e.g. Afghanistan and Pakistan).

Author

• Soeren Jannik Henn, IPA & University of Chicago