Tradition, Culture and Development in Africa by Ambe J Njoh

Author:Ambe J Njoh [Njoh, Ambe J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138262690
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2016-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

Decentralized and/or stateless polities

A memorable scene in Ali Mazrui’s highly acclaimed educational video series, The Africans, shows a large group of people from the Tiv ethnic group in Northeastern Nigeria sitting under a tree and deliberating on a matter of great importance to their entire community (Mazrui, 1986). The deliberations were very orderly despite the large size of the group. The curious viewer cannot but ponder why it takes such a large crowd to deliberate on an important public matter. In contemporary Western society, such a large crowd would be unnecessary as only elected representatives of groups in the crowd will be required to deliberate over the matter. Also, in the West, the meeting would typically be taking place indoors and not outdoors. The stark contrast here is obvious. However, it is difficult to miss the fact that the African setup is literally more open than the Western set-up. Thus, Mazrui appropriately labels the African situation a great example of ‘government by the people for the people.’ We must, however, be careful not to confuse administration with governance. The former is a lot more specific than the latter. Administration, and more specifically public administration, can be defined in basic terms to mean the implementation of public policy. It also includes creating and charging government bodies or agencies with the responsibility of formulating laws, adjudicating civil and criminal legal cases, providing for public safety, national defense, and so on.

Jay M. Shafritz and E.W. Russell (1996) provide a basic textbook definition of the term. They define public administration as, amongst other things (Shafritz and Russell: 1996: 16):

The king’s largesse;

Law in action;

Regulation of public behaviour;

Implementation of the public interest; and

What government does.

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