Managing the Competition for Power in Order to Reduce the Fragility of Political Institutions

Bibliographic Data

ID23637445
AuthorsAlexandre Marc (0000-0002-3516-7594), Neelam Verjee, Stephen Mogaka
Year2015
Pages99-124
Publication date2015-06-29
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe challenge of stability and security in West Africa (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherThe World Bank (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1596/978-1-4648-0464-9_ch5
OpenAlexW2483375050
ISBN9781464804649
LanguageEN
References cited12

Suggests that institutions play a central role in managing violence and conflict across West Africa, especially those governing political processes and systems. Since the end of the Cold War, the contest for control that guarantees access to resources for different groups has remained at the core of the conflict and instability, alongside a demographic explosion exacerbated by incremental improvements in education and the establishment of a small middle class that aspires to more accountable government. Toleration for control by one group, family, clan, or ethnicity has declined, while demands for more open and representative political systems have risen, but immense pressure exists from people in power to maintain the status quo. The increase in political openness has contributed to stability, although the transition to democracy has, in some cases, triggered a surge in political violence. Development organizations can make important contributions to improving the functioning of political institutions crucial to regional stability.

Business · Competition (biology) · Economics · Fragility · Industrial organization · Order (exchange) · Physics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Finance · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Russia and Soviet political economy · World Systems and Global Transformations

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