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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | Economic Restructuring, Coping Strategies and Social Change: Implications for Institutional Development in Africa |
| Author: | Bangura, Yusuf |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Periodical: | Development and Change |
| Volume: | 25 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Period: | October |
| Pages: | 785-827 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Africa |
| Subjects: | institutions social change economic policy management Development and Technology Politics and Government Economics and Trade |
| External link: | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1994.tb00536.x |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1980s, most African countries have experienced unsatisfactory rates of economic growth and profound changes in livelihood systems, which have affected the way their modern institutions function. However, when confronted with evidence of poor economic performance in countries undergoing adjustment, the international financial institutions often blame governments for their lack of political will in regulating the activities of bureaucrats and vested interests. Despite efforts to implement the measures recommended by international institutions, the problems of low institutional capacity remain. Two key contradictions appear to explain why institutions have been ineffective in crisis economies in Africa: the growing contradiction between the interests of bureaucratic actors and the goals they are supposed to uphold; and the contradiction between the institutional setup itself and what goes on in the wider society. To understand how these contradictions work, it is necessary to look at the set of values and relationships that anchor institutions on social systems. The issues here are social compromise and cohesion, institutional socialization and loyalties, overarching sets of values, and political authority to enforce regulations. The crises in these four areas of social relations have altered Africa's State institutions. Bibliogr., note, sum. |
