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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Representation without Taxation: An Essay on Democracy on Rural Nigeria, 1952-1990
Author:Guyer, Jane I.ISNI
Year:1992
Periodical:African Studies Review
Volume:35
Issue:1
Period:April
Pages:41-79
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:democracy
local government
local finance
Politics and Government
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/524445
Abstract:Contrary to the historical sequence in Europe, and even differing profoundly from the processes in place at the time of independence, the present African leadership has to seek consent first and enforce taxation afterwards. The history, social dynamics and implications of this conjuncture in rural Nigeria are the subject of this article. The author argues that the overall history of local governance in Nigeria is of a dramatic restriction of the corporate powers of communities since independence, a steady diminution of the corporate qualities of local government at the district level since the civil war, and a corresponding rise in the solidity of the corporate qualities of public office, private business and parastatal organizations. She first traces the history of local government constitutions and their financing in Ibapara District, Oyo State, interweaving two themes: the relationship between local government and the pre-existing and ongoing community structures, and the instability of both the constitutions and the finances of local government when looked at over several decades. Then she addresses public office and its financing in the same way. Finally, she outlines some of the implications for collective endeavours and the domestication of inequality. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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