Strong Institutions in Weak States: Institution Building, Natural Resource Governance, and Conflict in Ghana and Sierra Leone by McKenzie F. Johnson University Program in Environmental Policy Duke University Date March 9, 2017 Approved: ___________________________ Erika Weinthal, Supervisor ___________________________ Jack Knight ___________________________ Margaret McKean ___________________________ Jeffrey Vincent ___________________________ Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University Program in Environmental Policy in the Graduate School of Duke University 2017 i v ABSTRACT Strong Institutions in Weak States: Institution Building, Natural Resource Governance, and Conflict in Ghana and Sierra Leone by McKenzie F. Johnson University Program in Environmental Policy Duke University Date: March 9, 2017 Approved: ___________________________ Erika Weinthal, Supervisor ___________________________ Jack Knight ___________________________ Margaret McKean ___________________________ Jeffrey Vincent ___________________________ Elizabeth Shapiro-Garza An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University Program in Environmental Policy in the Graduate School of Duke University 2017 Copyright by McKenzie F. Johnson 2017 Abstract Since the end of the Cold War, natural resources have assumed an increasingly prominent role in security, conflict, and peace studies. Scholars and development practitioners alike view the development of strong institutions, which aim to domesticate global regulatory regimes that foster neoliberal principles like privatization, transparency, and accountability, as necessary to mitigate natural resource conflict in resource-rich states, as well as enhance opportunities for peace and social justice. However, the application of environmental peacebuilding theory to resource- rich contexts has outpaced the ability of empirical research to substantiate its claims, and scholars remain unclear about the mechanisms by which institutional reforms minimize conflict risk or promote peace. This dissertation examines the extent to which the diffusion and uptake of global environmental governance standards has (re)shaped the politics of mineral extraction in Ghana and Sierra Leone. I explore claims that social and environmental outcomes have deteriorated amid efforts by Ghana and Sierra Leone to build regulatory capacity. Using interview, survey, and ethnographic data collected across multiple scales in Ghana and Sierra Leone between 2014 and 2016, I find that while governance reforms have produced strong environmental regulatory institutions in both contexts, these institutions have failed to drive wider social and environmental change within society. Rather, institutional reforms have contributed to patterns of development that undermine state-society relations, and reinforced conditions that promote institutional plurality on the ground. The state remains only one of several options for obtaining legitimate access to mineral resources, meaning that multiple and conflicting sets of “rules-in-use” govern extraction. This perpetuates what I term a “hollow state” in which formal state institutions are continually eroded by informal bottom- iv up processes. The resulting institutional terrain has produced conditions in which plural authoritative networks compete for social influence as well as access to and control of natural resources. This, in turn, has contributed to chronic, low-intensity conflict, environmental degradation, and the pursuit of elite interests and power at the expense of sustainable resource extraction and livelihood security. Overall, this research suggests a need for environmental peacebuilding theory to reconceptualize linkages between environment, development, and social stability in resource-rich states. v Dedication To Dries, who was incredibly supportive throughout the dissertation process. To my mom, Maeve, who cultivated a passion for adventure and a drive for excellence. To my family – John, Kitt, Lyle, and Margaret – who have remained supportive despite my crazy life choices. And finally, to Daly, Roux, and Ava, who provide unconditional love and happiness on even the gloomiest of days. vi Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. xi List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. xii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... xiii 1. Exploring Extractive Conflict in West Africa ........................................................................ 1 1.1 Conflict in the Rainforest ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Governance, Peace, and Conflict in Resource-Rich States ......................................... 8 1.3 Building Strong Institutions in Ghana and Sierra Leone? ........................................ 12 1.4 Institutional Transfer and Social Change .................................................................... 16 1.5 State-Society Relations in the Era of Good Governance ........................................... 23 1.6 The Plan of the Dissertation .......................................................................................... 28 2. Good Governance and Resource-Rich States in the Global South ................................... 32 2.1 Understanding Instability in the Global South .......................................................... 36 2.1.1 The Good Governance Agenda: From Liberalization to Statebuilding ............. 36 2.1.2 Institutions as a Buffer to Liberalization ................................................................ 40 2.1.3 Natural Resources as a Source of Instability ......................................................... 44 2.1.4 Beyond Abundance: Natural Resources in Context ............................................. 51 2.2 The Resource Curse as a Governance Curse: The Rise of Resource-Rich States ... 59 2.2.1 Defining Resource-Rich States ................................................................................. 59 2.2.2 Explaining the Emergence of the Resource-Rich State ........................................ 68 vii 3. Good Governance and Limits to Institutional Change in Resource-Rich States ........... 76 3.1 The Puzzle: Institutional Diffusion and Social Change in Ghana and Sierra Leone ................................................................................................................................................. 80 3.1.1 Creating Social Change in Ghana and Sierra Leone ............................................ 80 3.1.2 Strong Institutions in Weak States .......................................................................... 87 3.2 Institutional Diffusion and Domestic Political Change ............................................ 94 3.2.1 Reinforcing a Fragmented Political Terrain ........................................................ 102 3.2.1.1 Emergence of the Regulatory State ............................................................... 104 3.2.1.2 Creating Space Without Place ........................................................................ 110 3.2.1.3 The Role of Alternative Governance Suppliers ........................................... 113 3.3 Natural Resource Governance in a Fragmented Political Terrain ........................ 121 3.3.1 The Selective Political State .................................................................................... 122 3.3.2 Social Change and Natural Resource Conflict .................................................... 126 3.3.3 Society in Equilibrium? .......................................................................................... 131 4. Regulation Rising: The Regulatory State in Ghana and Sierra Leone ........................... 135 4.1 Ghana’s Institutional Landscape ................................................................................ 140 4.1.1 Emerging from Colonialism .................................................................................. 140 4.1.2 The Period of Structural Adjustment ................................................................... 143 4.1.3 Good Governance in the Minerals Sector ............................................................ 149 4.1.4 New Wars and the Resource Curse ...................................................................... 158 4.1.5 Good Enough Governance in Ghana? .................................................................. 165 4.2 Sierra Leone’s Institutional Landscape ..................................................................... 172 viii 4.2.1 An Emerging Environmental Regime .................................................................. 178 4.2.2 Mineral Regulation .................................................................................................. 183 4.2.3 Environmental Regulation ..................................................................................... 190 5. Regulating an Environmental Peace in Ghana and Sierra