Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa
The Organization of African Unity marked its 50th anniversary in 2013 and, despite the shift to the African Union and continued rhetoric from African leaders about the need for further integration, the progress towards the goal of economic and political integration has been ineffective. This thesis...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Political Studies
2014
|
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613140583186432 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Duthie, Shawn |
| author2 | Akokpari, John |
| author_browse | Akokpari, John Duthie, Shawn |
| author_facet | Akokpari, John Duthie, Shawn |
| author_sort | Duthie, Shawn |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The Organization of African Unity marked its 50th anniversary in 2013 and, despite the shift to the African Union and continued rhetoric from African leaders about the need for further integration, the progress towards the goal of economic and political integration has been ineffective. This thesis shows that integration has been ineffective in Africa namely because of the lack of political will to push integration further. The reason for this is the prevalence of neopatrimonialism on the continent, which creates a situation where leaders need access to a nation?s resources to remain in power. Economic and political integration will, inevitably, result in a loss of financial or political capital, which will then result in a lack of resources available for the client, who has used these resources to maintain their patronage base. Thus, integration in Africa has progressed slowly, as leaders do what they can to undermine the process while maintaining the appearance of progress. The major option chosen to weaken integration has been to control the institutions of integration run intergovernmentally, rather than transfer some power towards a supranational organisation. Without a transfer of power to a supranational institution, the Regional Economic Communities and African states cannot proceed towards economic, let alone political, integration. The reason for this is that decisions taken in a purely intergovernmental body, such as the African Union, will be of the lowest common denominator, resulting in a slow and ineffective integration. For integration to progress effectively, some powers will first have to be transferred to a supranational institution, which will create more actors that are actively involved in the integration process and make it more difficult for leaders to slow down or stop the move towards African unity. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6816 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:24.573Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | Department of Political Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Political Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6816 Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa Duthie, Shawn Akokpari, John The Organization of African Unity marked its 50th anniversary in 2013 and, despite the shift to the African Union and continued rhetoric from African leaders about the need for further integration, the progress towards the goal of economic and political integration has been ineffective. This thesis shows that integration has been ineffective in Africa namely because of the lack of political will to push integration further. The reason for this is the prevalence of neopatrimonialism on the continent, which creates a situation where leaders need access to a nation?s resources to remain in power. Economic and political integration will, inevitably, result in a loss of financial or political capital, which will then result in a lack of resources available for the client, who has used these resources to maintain their patronage base. Thus, integration in Africa has progressed slowly, as leaders do what they can to undermine the process while maintaining the appearance of progress. The major option chosen to weaken integration has been to control the institutions of integration run intergovernmentally, rather than transfer some power towards a supranational organisation. Without a transfer of power to a supranational institution, the Regional Economic Communities and African states cannot proceed towards economic, let alone political, integration. The reason for this is that decisions taken in a purely intergovernmental body, such as the African Union, will be of the lowest common denominator, resulting in a slow and ineffective integration. For integration to progress effectively, some powers will first have to be transferred to a supranational institution, which will create more actors that are actively involved in the integration process and make it more difficult for leaders to slow down or stop the move towards African unity. 2014-09-02T09:50:27Z 2014-09-02T09:50:27Z 2014 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6816 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Duthie, Shawn Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa |
| title_full | Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa |
| title_short | Beyond the rhetoric: a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in Africa |
| title_sort | beyond the rhetoric a theoretical analysis of the effects of neopatrimonialism and intergovernmentalism on the integration process in africa |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6816 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duthieshawn beyondtherhetoricatheoreticalanalysisoftheeffectsofneopatrimonialismandintergovernmentalismontheintegrationprocessinafrica |