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Explaining Variation in Levels of Public (Dis)trust in Traditional Leaders: Colonial Ruling Strategies and Contemporary Roles in Governance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2020

Zack Zimbalist Open the ORCID record for Zack Zimbalist [Opens in a new window]
Zack Zimbalist*
Affiliation:
Tecnológico de Monterrey, Querétaro, Mexico, and Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, US
*
*Corresponding author. Email zzimbal1@jhu.edu
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Abstract

Why does public trust in traditional leaders vary dramatically across African countries? This article argues that trust in traditional leaders is higher in cases where: (1) the French colonial authority did not interfere in traditional structures and allowed leaders to operate outside of the colonial apparatus (as opposed to the British practice of augmenting the authority of traditional leaders to extract on behalf of the Crown within the colonial structure); (2) leaders in the post-independence era were not hostile towards traditional leaders; and (3) citizens believe traditional leaders play a positive role in meeting local needs vis-à-vis contemporary elected officials.

Keywords

Africainstitutionstraditional authoritycolonial rulepublic trust
Type
Article
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , October 2021 , pp. 661 - 682
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2020. Published by Government and Opposition Limited and Cambridge University Press

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