Found 2658 Hypotheses across 266 Pages (0.007 seconds)
  1. Pre-colonial centralization predicts less political competition in modern day Africa. Amodio, Francesco - Pre-colonial ethnic institutions and party politics in Africa, 2022 - 2 Variables

    This article investigates the degree of political centralization in pre-industrial and the political competitive outcomes in 15 modern-day Sub-Sahara African countries. The authors first report that pre-colonial centralization decreases political competitiveness in modern day countries, advocating that traditional power structures play a role in modern day politics. The authors then use light-density as a proxy for regional development and test developmental outcomes based on political centralization and competitiveness. They report pre-colonial centralization positively affected regional development and suggest this could be due to more centralized institutions increasing the capacity of chiefs to mobilize voters, in turn lowering political competition and increasing the accountability of elected officials. Many controls are introduced.

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  2. Pre-colonial centralization predicts more political centralization and more regional development.Amodio, Francesco - Pre-colonial ethnic institutions and party politics in Africa, 2022 - 3 Variables

    This article investigates the degree of political centralization in pre-industrial and the political competitive outcomes in 15 modern-day Sub-Sahara African countries. The authors first report that pre-colonial centralization decreases political competitiveness in modern day countries, advocating that traditional power structures play a role in modern day politics. The authors then use light-density as a proxy for regional development and test developmental outcomes based on political centralization and competitiveness. They report pre-colonial centralization positively affected regional development and suggest this could be due to more centralized institutions increasing the capacity of chiefs to mobilize voters, in turn lowering political competition and increasing the accountability of elected officials. Many controls are introduced.

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  3. Political centralization among pre-colonial African ethnic institutions is positively associated with contemporary regional development (114).Michalopoulos, Stelios - Pre‐colonial ethnic institutions and contemporary African development, 2013 - 5 Variables

    The researchers test the relationship between political complexity among African pre-colonial ethnic institutions and contemporary economic performance (using light-density data as a proxy). Their tests yield a robust positive association even after controlling for multiple alternative geographic, cultural, and economic variables, which they interpret as underscoring the ongoing importance of ethnic-specific institutions in shaping economic activity in contemporary Africa.

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  4. Precolonial centralization will be positively correlated with public goods provisioning in Africa. (195)Gennaioli, Nicola - The modern impact of precolonial centralization in Africa, 2007 - 2 Variables

    In this study, the authors empirically assess the relationship between precolonial centralization and the implementation of modernization programs by African governments. Their findings indicate that current African countries tend to have better provisioning of public goods (including better access to education, healthcare, and infrastructure) when their ethnic groups' precolonial institutions were more centralized.

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  5. Political centralization predicts increases in public goods and development outcomes.Osafo-Kwaako, Philip - Political centralization in pre-colonial Africa, 2013 - 3 Variables

    This article investigates commonly accepted theories that purport to explain political centralization and investigate their relevance to sub-Saharan Africa. The leading ideas for the formation of political centralization using a worldwide sample include population density, inter-state warfare, and trade. However, the authors reported these factors are not predictive of the sub-Saharan Africa sample. The authors suggest that the lack of agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa may have stunted population density therefore inhibiting political centralization and that Africa’s poor economic performance is, in part, due to lack of political centralization.

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  6. Political centralization will be predicted by population density, frequency of being attacked, and trade in the worldwide sample, but not in the Africa sub-sample.Osafo-Kwaako, Philip - Political centralization in pre-colonial Africa, 2013 - 5 Variables

    This article investigates commonly accepted theories that purport to explain political centralization and investigate their relevance to sub-Saharan Africa. The leading ideas for the formation of political centralization using a worldwide sample include population density, inter-state warfare, and trade. However, the authors reported these factors are not predictive of the sub-Saharan Africa sample. The authors suggest that the lack of agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa may have stunted population density therefore inhibiting political centralization and that Africa’s poor economic performance is, in part, due to lack of political centralization.

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  7. Ecological diversity promotes state centralization.Fenske, James - Ecology, trade, and states in pre-colonial Africa, 2014 - 2 Variables

    The author analyzes 440 Sub-Saharan African societies to test whether trade across ecologically diverse zones is predictive of degree of state centralization (state capacity or strength of state) in pre-colonial Africa. The author finds that diverse ecology is predictive of state capacity and that trade supports class stratification. The author also emphasizes the importance of historical contingency and ethnographic data consultation in understanding mechanisms in individual cases.

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  8. Agricultural potential may predict population density, which in turn could predict political centralization in the world sample, but not in the African sample.Osafo-Kwaako, Philip - Political centralization in pre-colonial Africa, 2013 - 3 Variables

    This article investigates commonly accepted theories that purport to explain political centralization and investigate their relevance to sub-Saharan Africa. The leading ideas for the formation of political centralization using a worldwide sample include population density, inter-state warfare, and trade. However, the authors reported these factors are not predictive of the sub-Saharan Africa sample. The authors suggest that the lack of agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa may have stunted population density therefore inhibiting political centralization and that Africa’s poor economic performance is, in part, due to lack of political centralization.

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  9. Levels of sovereignty will be predicted by population density, frequency of being attacked, and trade in the worldwide sample, but not in the Africa sub-sample. Osafo-Kwaako, Philip - Political centralization in pre-colonial Africa, 2013 - 5 Variables

    This article investigates commonly accepted theories that purport to explain political centralization and investigate their relevance to sub-Saharan Africa. The leading ideas for the formation of political centralization using a worldwide sample include population density, inter-state warfare, and trade. However, the authors reported these factors are not predictive of the sub-Saharan Africa sample. The authors suggest that the lack of agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa may have stunted population density therefore inhibiting political centralization and that Africa’s poor economic performance is, in part, due to lack of political centralization.

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  10. The extent to which traditional African governance institutions contemporarily resemble their precolonial predecessors is positively correlated with the presence of indirect, colonial rule and negatively correlated with the presence of direct, colonial rule. Neupert-Wentz, Clara - Traditional institutions in Africa: past and present, 2024 - 3 Variables

    In this article, the authors seek to understand the trajectory of traditional political institutions in Africa and ask how these institutions have changed, if at all, due to colonial interference. They note that "institutions connect the past with the present", though the study of political institutions over time is often overlooked in discussions of institutional persistence and change despite their value to key components of governance and social stability. Thus, these authors investigate whether today's African institutions remain akin to their precolonial, institutional ancestors, and whether colonial governance strategies of indirect or direct rule employed by the British and French have impacted their persistence. They find evidence to support the endurance of traditional institutions in former British colonies (upward trend), whereas evidence for institutional destruction for former French colonies (downward trend).

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