Date: Sun, 18 May 2014 00:10:44 +0200
Constitutional Reform and Violent Conflict: Lessons from Africa, for Africa
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Can constitutional reforms lower instability and violence across Africa?
Today, Alan Kuperman applies this question to seven countries on the
continent. He concludes that highly centralized governments do indeed foster
conflict and that they should adopt constitutions that deliberately separate
institutional power.
By Alan Kuperman for The Robert S Strauss Center for International Security
and Law
This report was
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uac
t=8&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.strausscenter.org%2Fccaps%2Fpublicat
ions%2Fresearch-briefs.html%3Fdownload%3D179&ei=IVBrU_rXN4Kq0QWw7YGwDA&usg=A
FQjCNGDQq7OsAsLMQ9Puup98kbanXXMtQ&sig2=l1eaxUbzAaxhjBQR-YPKaw&bvm=bv.6633010
0,d.d2k> originally published by <https://www.strausscenter.org/> the
Robert S Strauss Center for International Security and Law in July 2013
Can deadly internal conflict be prevented, or at least significantly
reduced, by changing a country's domestic political institutions? This might
seem an obvious and important question, especially for Africa, which
recently has suffered the most such violence - in Rwanda, Congo, Darfur, and
elsewhere. Yet, this continental puzzle had never been addressed in a
rigorous, comparative manner prior to the CCAPS project on Constitutional
Design and Conflict Management (CDCM) in Africa.
Starting in 2010, the CDCM project approached the subject in three steps.
First, it assembled seven of the world's leading experts on constitutional
design, conflict management, and African politics. Each of these scholars
wrote a detailed case study of an African country, identifying how at key
turning points the domestic political institutions either mitigated - or
exacerbated - political instability and violence. This provided vital
lessons about the types of domestic political institutions - or
"constitutional design" - that are best for peacefully managing conflict.
Second, the project compiled the first-ever database of constitutional
design in Africa. This revealed that most African countries have highly
centralized political institutions, which according to conventional wisdom
are prone to foster conflict. Third, the project integrated these two pieces
of the puzzle - comparing the political institutions that Africa currently
has to the type that might reduce violence - to develop policy prescriptions
for foreign aid aimed at promoting democracy and good governance. ........
Continue to read the whole Interview in PDF below:
Berhane Habtemariam
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- application/pdf attachment: Constitutional_Reform_and_Violent_Conflict-_Lessons_from_Africa__for_Africa.pdf