Constituting Development in Somaliland

Constituting Development in Somaliland

Development, Democracy, and Institution-Building

Mercatus CenterGeorge Mason UniversityOctober 7, 2009

Sujai Shivakumar PhDBoard on Science, Technology and Economic PolicyThe National Academies

Sujai Shivakumar PhD2

The 21st Century Challenge

Numerous independent nation states emerged in the 20th Century… End of European Imperialism Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Struggles

..but many have not succeeded Development Failures, State Failures Plunder and Pillage; Humanitarian Crises

How to achieve democratic governance in the 21st Century? How do we achieve stable, self-governing societies? How do we address the Challenge of Development?


Whether human societies are capable of establishing good government from refection and choice, or whether they are destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force

Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist

The Constitutional Challenge


Focus on Somaliland



Somali Society

Clan structure remains the bedrock foundation of the pastoral Somali society The primacy of clan interests is its natural divisive reflection

at the political level. The viability of the blood compensation paying group depends

primarily on how wealthy the members are. As long there is a social need for the dia-paying group, the

traditional structures will persist. Somali customary laws

Xeer can be contracted into - and out of – and, according to need, contracts can be abrogated, modified, rescinded or new ones made.

Basis of new Somaliland constitution


A Recent History of Somaliland (in Brief)

British Somaliland (1899-1960) Ruled from British India; Provided security to the Suez Canal and safety for

the Empire's vital naval routes through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden Briefly conquered by the Italians during WWII

Merger with Somalia 1967 Coup by Siad Barre, who instituted a Marxist regime, and became a

close ally of the Soviet Union Disenchantment with Somalia as SL is marginalized in government

Civil War 1981- 1990: Somali National Movement seeks to topple Barre Barre responds with areal bombings

Independence (1991) Somaliland asserts independence—Still remains unrecognized Inter-clan conflict continues through mid-1990s Peace conference (1993) and gradual fall in violence; Rebuilding begins Mid to late1990s—New Constitution adopted


Today’ Presentation

Institutions and Development Development as Adaptive wellbeing through Collective

Action Institutions as Technologies for Successful Collective

Action

Assessing the State as an Institution Limits of State-led Development

Role of Democracy in Development Constituting Somaliland

“Starting from Here”

Institutions and Development

Technologies for Successful Collective Action


The Meaning of Development

Development concerns the realization of our adaptive wellbeing through productive association with others

Institutions matter for development Represent a shared understanding of rules needed

for collective action We need to recognize and renew these shared

institutional resources Many assume state provides institutional basis for

development


State Governance & Development

Traditional Interpretation: Development as Transformation Features of a “developing” country Features of a

“developed” country Aid to facilitate this process by filling gaps

Role of the State is to transform society from developing to developed status Agents of state to formulate and administer policies Constitution typically recognized as a charter describing

the organization of the state and legitimizing coercion by the state

The State often does not provide the institutional basis for this transformation


What is an Institution?

They are rules, socially considered By structuring human interaction, they

Help each anticipate the actions of others Reduce uncertainty, promote coordination and

cooperation To be successful, rules must be

Reliable—triggering consistently in similar circumstances

Recognizable—subject to broad awareness Non-arbitrary—seemingly dependant on general

principles


Institutions and Development

Institutions are important because successful collective action is needed for growth and development We need to cooperate successfully to grow food,

build roads, maintain safe neighborhoods, etc. Successful collective action also needed to craft and

maintain rules of the market and collective decision-making

When the social technologies for collective action are kept in good repair, we are better off Citizens are better equipped to solve problems Well maintained institutions ensure our improved

adaptive well being


Addressing Collective Action Situations lies at the Heart of Development

Collective Action Situations exist where contributions from multiple actors are required to produce joint outcomes

Collective Action Problems occur when unresolved Motivation Problems and Information Problems

…create sub-optimal outcomes


Motivation problems

Social Dilemmas: Potential conflict between individual gain and collective benefits Provision of public goods (public safety, health,

knowledge, etc.) Provision and maintenance of common-pool

resources (protection of forests, wildlife, species, lakes, rivers, oceans, atmosphere)

If benefits can be obtained by an actor without contributing, temptation always exists to free ride on the efforts of others. May also face overuse.


Information problems

Missing information Time and Place Knowledge Knowledge of local realities, rules, and

relationships Asymmetric information

Moral Hazard Principle-agent problems Signaling Problems Fiscal Illusion (Policy Context)

Societies around the world have variously developed institutional solutions to these problems

Are these problem-solving technologies still relevant?


An example of an Institutional Solution to a Free Rider Problem

Free riders are those who seek to benefit from the actions of others without contributing their share of the effort

Solution: Ubudehe in Rwanda Ubudehe is rooted in a long history of inclusive

community participation in tilling fields for planting crops

Found among the Hutu and Tutsi communities in Rwanda, long before genocide of the 1990s


An example of an Institutional Solution to a “Tragedy of the Commons” Problem

The Tragedy of the Commons refers to a failure of cooperation in the shared use of a Common Pool Resource When needed institutions are absent, individuals

may be motivated to use more than their share of a limited but openly available resource

Leads to non-sustainable use and degradation Solution: Xeer in Somalia

Expectations for arrangements to share scarce grazing land and water sources among nomadic pastoralists in northern Somalia


People everywhere face challenges of collective action

In developed countries, well adapted networks of institutions generally lead to productive outcomes

In poor countries, individuals often face negative incentives, making it difficult to invest in economic activities Provide public goods Improve communally held resources

This failure of social cooperation is rooted in a variety of social dilemmas that remain unsolved—there are no relevant institutions


Crafting Solutions to Collective Action Problems

A Complex task… Collective Action Problems are often highly

localized Social dilemmas are numerous and often difficult to

diagnose Different interests and theories about working

properties of rules can make agreement difficult …but one that is necessary

Existence of institutions like ubudehe and xeer show that it is possible


Crafting Solutions to Collective Action Problems

Improving development requires a focus on the multiple contexts within which citizens can identify and craft solutions to problems of collective actionThis perspective differs from the State-

centered approach to development


Ideology of the State

The State as the Preeminent Tool for DevelopmentRulership

• unity of power to maintain unity of law critical for social harmony—Hobbes

Governance• Bureaucratic Public Administration—Weber &

Wilson• Aggregate data Develop Policy Implement

Policy This ideology still widely articulated

But is the State competent to address the range of collective action problems facing its subjects?


Is the State Competent?

The Knowledge Problem Agents of the state cannot gain “knowledge of time and

place”—Friedrich Hayek

The Motivation Problem Possibility of self-seeking and opportunistic agents of the state

—James Buchanan

The Intellectual Crisis of Public Administration Ideology of state stifles modes of creative inquiry and

participation among citizens in solving problems of collective action —Vincent Ostrom


Failures of the Ideology of the State

The emphasis on state-led development has often ruined capabilities for locally based problem-solving

The results have often been catastrophic Rwanda

• Indigenous institutions like ubudehe have been overlooked in favor of the “modernizing” potential of the state

• Resulting deterioration of networks of trust contributed to the genocide

Somalia• UN imposed constitution failed to account for local

institutional resources, like xeer• Somali rulers exploited indigenous institutions to stay in

power, fraying the constitutional fabric of society• Resulting in famine, civil war, state collapse


What is the alternative?

Begin with the recognition that failures of development are rooted in institutional failures The state often does not address underlying

problems of collective action Organization of state often fosters perverse

incentives of its own Need to develop an alternate approach to the

puzzle of development One based on a deeper understanding of

democracy and constitutional government

The Meaning of Democracy

Foundations of Constitutional Governance


The Role of Democracy in Development

Democracy concerns the norms of inclusion in public discourse and decision makingParticipation and Debate

• Ensures that policy decisions draw on knowledge that individuals have of their own time and place

Consensus• Helps strengthen common understandings about

new decisions and rules—creating an institutional basis for successful collective action


Centralized Democracy?

Popular view equates democracy with elections of representatives to a national government Some believe that party politics associated with

elections interfere with State’s ability to govern wisely

Idea underpins current efforts in “Nation-Building” Centralized democracy can lead to ‘political

free-riding’ that stifles local initiative and problem-solving Tocqueville


Polycentric Governance

Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, described a system of: Multiple overlapping arenas of political authority Various scales, from community organizations, to

state government to national government Governance structures are adaptive framework for

problem-solving World Wide Web is a modern example Role of public entrepreneurship in seeking solutions

to problems of collective action


Foundations of Constitutional Governance

Constitutionally Constrained Democratic Governance Focus on collective action within institutional

constraints Citizens addressing their common needs through

the freedom to integrate their actions with those of others within crafted rules and innovated institutional arrangements

The Challenge: Crafting a system of interlinked problem-solving arenas

Achieving a Self-Governing Civilization

Starting from Here

Building on Indigenous Institutional Foundations


Starting from “here”—Why?

We have to deal with indigenous institutions because they represent existing communities of understanding Yet, we must recognize that evolved

institutional forms, presented as indigenous or traditional do not necessarily denote optimal or even acceptable solutions to prevailing collective action problems


Starting from “here”—How?

Challenge lies in developing and modifying existing rules and constitutional amenities Need to harness more effectively the

problem solving potentials latent in various locally focused indigenous institutions

Need to draw on existing mechanisms/ shared concepts to encourage rule change

Normative bases for rules—conjectural evolutionary claims


Reviving indigenous capabilities for problem-solving

Ubudehe is being revived in Rwanda today Focused on cellule level to rebuild local institutions

and to encourage individuals to solve problems in association with each other

Xeer is underpinning new governance structures in Somaliland Concept of covenanting now used to craft and

maintain collective action institutions A major Challenge of Development is to draw on

such indigenous practices in crafting capabilities for self-governance


Crafting Capabilities for Self-governance in Somaliland

A challenging environment Civil conflict following the collapse of the Somali State Clan-on-clan violence exacerbated by destruction of

common pool resources Recognizing the underlying collective action problem

Tragedy of the Commons Conflict over Resources Leveraging existing institutional capital: “Xeer”

Traditional ad hoc arrangements to share grazing land and water sources among nomadic pastoralists in northern Somalia

Action-Aid drew on clan traditions to craft new institutional arrangements before delivering aid


Constituting Somaliland

Today, Xeer is underpinning new governance structures in SomalilandConcept of covenanting now used to

craft and maintain collective action institutions at various levels

The broader Challenge for Development in Africa and elsewhere is to draw on such indigenous practices in crafting capabilities for self-governance


Somaliland’s “Success” The chaos in Somalia obscures a remarkable political

development in Somaliland. Somaliland, which declared its independence in

1991, has held three consecutive competitive elections since

2001, has a parliament with opposition parties, and boasts a growing economy propelled by the private

sector. The key to its success

The integration into politics of traditional Somali models of governance by consultation and consent

A contrast to the standard development paradigm

To Conclude




Alexander Hamilton Presumption that societies of men and women can

choose good government through reflection and choice

Federalism as the foremost theory of citizenship Alexis de Tocqueville

A new age of democracy will only succeed to the degree that it developed a new science of politics that is based on principles of association, rather than on the ideology of state


Achieving a Self-Governing Civilization for the 21st Century

The challenge of Constitutional Political Economy lies in looking beyond the ideology of state governance

Need to understand the nature of collective undertakings with reference to:Multiple levels of governanceMultiple sources of adaptation

Thank you

Sujai Shivakumar, PhDThe National Academies500 Fifth Street NWWashington DC 20001Tel: 202 334 1337Email: [email protected]


Agenda for Future Research: Recovering from State Failure

Analyze link between Institutional conditions and Development Sustainability Impact on Aid on Successful Collective Action

Study local institutions and local governance structures Recognize role of indigenous institutions Modernize institutions to address contemporary

challenges Reconciling Bottom-up and Top-down governance

Incentives to recognize and nurture local/indigenous institutions

Training in Institutional Analysis Build capacity to recognize and leverage existing

institutional potentials


Publications

The Constitution of DevelopmentCrafting Capabilities for Self Governance

• Palgrave Macmillan

The Samaritan’s DilemmaThe Political Economy of Development Aid

• With Elinor Ostrom, Clark Gibson and Krister Andersson

• Oxford University Press

Documents

Constituting Development in Somaliland