Conflict, Consensus and Modernizing Trajectories in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Syracuse University SURFACE at Syracuse University Dissertations - ALL SURFACE at Syracuse University Spring 5-22-2021 Conflict, Consensus And Modernizing rT ajectories In Sub-saharan Africa Charles Themba Tuthill Syracuse University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Tuthill, Charles Themba, "Conflict, Consensus And Modernizing rT ajectories In Sub-saharan Africa" (2021). Dissertations - ALL. 1333. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1333 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at Syracuse University at SURFACE at Syracuse University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE at Syracuse University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT Research on the political economy of African states has often focused on explaining the roots of socio-political disfunction or has been pre-occupied with successful cases like Botswana, whose demography and social structures differ markedly from other states on the continent. This dissertation takes a different approach; it seeks to understand the developmental dynamics of successful African states whose peoples and societies largely reflect the majority of states on the continent south of the Sahara. The research question first asks why Ghana and Kenya succeeded in creating growth-enhancing economic institutions. Next it examines why, in the post-Cold War era, Ghanaian economic institutions linked to the external economy perform better than Kenyan institutions, while Kenyan institutions linked to the domestic and regional economy outperform those of Ghana. In order to answer the research question, I employ within case configurational analysis as well as structured focused comparison across cases. To avoid selection biases, I undertake case studies on two additional states, Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire. I also employ a quantitative analysis using OLS regression to verify the impact of the two main independent variables, the presence of “core group” containing 50% or more of the population or that is 20% larger than the next largest group, as well as past experience with forms of African socialism. In each case, durable society rooted pacts ensure the creation of growth enhancing institutions in some sectors of the economy. The presence of a core group in Ghana, however, creates a set of “core related” factors leading to its uneven, externally focused development. Finally, the dissertation points to the idea the experience with a form of African socialism may in some cases, create durable patterns of economic institution making contributing to the autonomy of the state but also contributing to uneven, externally oriented forms of development. CONFLICT, CONSENSUS, AND MODERNIZING TRAJECTORIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA by Charles Themba Tuthill B.A., Union College (NY), 2002 M.A., Syracuse University, 2010 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. Syracuse University May 2021 Copyright © Charles Themba Tuthill 2021 All Rights Reserved Table of Contents Chapter 1: The Empirical Puzzle .................................................................................................. 1 Empirical Findings .................................................................................................................. 15 Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................................... 17 The Horizontality of Ethnic Positionality .............................................................................. 28 Examining Types of Coordinating Institutions .................................................................... 34 Managerial Mode of State-Society Relations ........................................................................ 36 Gatekeeping Mode of State-Society Relations ....................................................................... 37 Embedded Party Mode of State Society Relations ................................................................. 39 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 40 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................................... 40 Variables and Concepts .......................................................................................................... 50 Independent Variables ............................................................................................................ 64 Elaborating on the Definition of a Core Group .................................................................... 81 Methods, Data and Case Selection ......................................................................................... 85 The Configurational Historical Approach to Case Study ..................................................... 92 Gender as an Analytical Lens ................................................................................................ 98 Data ........................................................................................................................................... 99 Additional Methods ............................................................................................................... 101 Quantitative Analysis of Causal Pathways .......................................................................... 104 Chapter 2: Theories of the State and Economic Development ................................................ 107 The Relational Aspects of the African State ....................................................................... 108 Theories of the State .............................................................................................................. 114 Contributions to World Systems and Dependency Theories ............................................ 120 Patronage and the Distribution of Services and Benefits .................................................. 123 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 125 Chapter 3: The Social Roots of Contemporary Institutional Bifurcation in Ghana ............... 127 Background: African Socialism and the Nkrumah Regime, 1957-1966 .......................... 130 Core-Related Factors, Subverted Institutions, and the Nkrumah Regime ...................... 135 The NLC, Busia and the Limits of State Autonomy: 1966-1972 ....................................... 139 The Post 1983 Period: Patterns of Ghanaian Development .............................................. 147 The Rawlings Regime .......................................................................................................... 148 The Kufuor Regime .............................................................................................................. 154 The Mills and Mahama Regimes ......................................................................................... 159 iv The Akufo-Addo Regime ...................................................................................................... 165 State Society Linkages in Ghana .......................................................................................... 167 Considering Gender in the Ghanaian Case ........................................................................ 171 Strategies of rule and institutional creation ........................................................................ 173 Bifurcated Institutional Performance in Ghana ................................................................ 175 Agriculture, Agro-processing, and the Limitations of State Power .................................... 183 Liberalization in Agriculture After 1983 ............................................................................. 190 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 196 Patterns of Institutional Creation ........................................................................................ 197 Evaluating Competing Causal Claims ................................................................................. 199 Ghana and the Developmental State ................................................................................... 200 Chapter 4: The Uneven Landscape of Distributional Struggles in Kenya .............................. 204 The Kenyatta Regime – Distribution and Social Conflict ................................................. 206 The Moi Regime – Contested Distribution and Fiscal Challenges ................................... 217 Economic Troubles during the Moi Regime ........................................................................ 221 The Kibaki Regime ................................................................................................................ 227 Saccos and the State .............................................................................................................. 230 Dairy Production and the Politics of Political Survival ..................................................... 234 The Presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta ..................................................................................... 238 Sugar Production in Kenya .................................................................................................