Prebendalism

Last updated

Prebendalism refers to political systems where elected officials and government workers feel they have a right to a share of government revenues, and use them to benefit their supporters, co-religionists and members of their ethnic group.

Contents

Origins of the term

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines a prebend as the "right of member of chapter to his share in the revenues of a cathedral". [1]

Max Weber used the term to describe India and China in the early Middle Ages in his 1915 book, The Religion of China [2] and his 1916 book, The Religion of India. [3]

The occidental seigneurie, like the oriental Indian, developed through the disintegration of the central authority of the patrimonial state power—the disintegration of the Carolingian Empire in the Occident, the disintegration of the Caliphs and the Maharadja or Great Moguls in India. In the Carolingian Empire, however, the new stratum developed on the basis of a rural subsistence economy. Through oath-bound vassalage, patterned after the war following, the stratum of lords was joined to the king and interposed itself between the freemen and the king. Feudal relations were also to be found in India, but they were not decisive for the formation either of a nobility or landlordism. In India, as in the Orient generally, a characteristic seigniory developed rather out of tax farming and the military and tax prebends of a far more bureaucratic state. The oriental seigniory therefore remained in essence, a "prebend" and did not become a "fief"; not feudalization, but prebendalization of the patrimonial state occurred. The comparable, though undeveloped, occidental parallel is not the medieval fief but the purchase of offices and prebends during the papal seicento or during the days of the French Noblesse de Robe. [3]

Alavi describes how state-derived rights over capital held by state officials in parts of India in the early 18th Century were held to be of a patron-client nature and thus volatile. They were thus converted where possible into hereditary entitlements. [4]

In Nigeria

Richard A. Joseph, director of The Program of African Studies at Northwestern University, is usually credited with first using the term to describe patron-clientelism or neopatrimonialism in Nigeria. [5] Since then the term has commonly been used in scholarly literature and textbooks.

Joseph wrote in 1996, "According to the theory of prebendalism, state offices are regarded as prebends that can be appropriated by officeholders, who use them to generate material benefits for themselves and their constituents and kin groups..." [6]

As a result of that kind of patron–client or identity politics, Nigeria has regularly been one of the lowest ranked nations for political transparency by Transparency International in its Corruption Perceptions Index. [7]

Other uses include the corruption investigations into the activities of 31 out of 36 Nigerian governors, [8] the frequent comments in the Nigerian press about the problems of corruption (for example, Victor E. Dike's article in the Daily Champion of Lagos, "Nigeria: Governance and Nigeria's Ailing Economy" [9] ) and the common defenses of prebendalism as necessary for justice and equality in government funding (for example Oliver O. Mbamara's editorial, "In Defense of Nigeria: Amidst the Feasting of Critics" at Africa Events). [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Crony capitalism is an economic system in which businesses thrive not as a result of risk, but rather as a return on money amassed through a nexus between a business class and the political class. This is often achieved by using state power rather than competition in managing permits, government grants, tax breaks, or other forms of state intervention over resources where the state exercises monopolist control over public goods, for example, mining concessions for primary commodities or contracts for public works. Money is then made not merely by making a profit in the market, but through profiteering by rent seeking using this monopoly or oligopoly. Entrepreneurship and innovative practices which seek to reward risk are stifled since the value-added is little by crony businesses, as hardly anything of significant value is created by them, with transactions taking the form of trading. Crony capitalism spills over into the government, the politics, and the media, when this nexus distorts the economy and affects society to an extent it corrupts public-serving economic, political, and social ideals.

Nigeria Country in West Africa

Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a sovereign country in West Africa bordering Niger in the north, Chad in the northeast, Cameroon in the east, and Benin in the west. Its southern coast is on the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a federal republic comprising 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, where the capital, Abuja, is located. Lagos is the most populous city in the country and the African continent, as well as one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.

Nigeria is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, with approximately 200 million people in an area of 923,768 km2 (356,669 sq mi), and is also the country with the largest population in Africa and the sixth largest population in the world.

Federal government of Nigeria National government of Nigeria

The federal government of Nigeria is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the Constitution of Nigeria in the National Assembly, the President, and the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, respectively. The Constitution provides a separation and balance of powers among the three branches and aims to prevent the repetition of past mistakes made by the government.

Economy of Nigeria National economy

The economy of Nigeria is a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging market, with expanding manufacturing, financial, service, communications, technology and entertainment sectors. It is ranked as the 26th-largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, and the 24th-largest in terms of purchasing power parity. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa; its re-emergent manufacturing sector became the largest on the continent in 2013, and it produces a large proportion of goods and services for the West African subcontinent. In addition, the debt-to-GDP ratio is 16.075 percent as of 2019.

Ibrahim Babangida Nigerian statesman and general

Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida GCB GCFR popularly known as IBB; nicknamed, "Maradona" or "The Evil Genuis", is a Nigerian general who ruled the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 27 August 1985 until his resignation in August 1993. He served as president from 1985 to 1993, ruling for an uninterrupted period of eight years as military ruler and commander-in-chief. His years in power, colloquially known as the Babangida Era, are considered one of the most controversial, with Babangida and his regime been accused of being the most corrupt, and responsible for creating a political culture of corruption in Nigeria.

The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism is a book written by Max Weber, a German economist and sociologist. It was first published in German under the title Konfuzianismus und Taoismus in 1915 and an adapted version appeared in 1920. An English translation was published in 1951 and several editions have been released since.

Neopatrimonialism is a system of social hierarchy where patrons use state resources to secure the loyalty of clients in the general population. It is an informal patron–client relationship that can reach from very high up in state structures down to individuals in small villages.

Religion in Nigeria Overview of Nigerias religion share

Nigeria, the most populous African country, is divided between adherents of Islam, Christianity and traditional religion quite similar to polytheism though the ratio is uncertain. The majority of Nigerian Muslims are either non-denominational Muslims or Sunni and are concentrated in mostly the northern region of the country with some Christian population, the same way Christians dominate in the south with some Muslim population. Most Nigerian Christians are Protestant though about a quarter are Catholic.

The French West India Company was a French trading company founded on 28 May 1664, some 3 months before the foundation of its eastern company, by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and dissolved on 2 January 1674. The company received the French possessions of the Atlantic coasts of Africa and America, and was granted a monopoly on trade with America, which was to last for forty years. It was supposed to populate Canada, using the profits of the sugar economy that began in Guadeloupe. Its capital was six million pounds and its headquarters was in Le Havre.

Human rights in Nigeria Constitutional human rights

Human rights in Nigeria are protected under the most current constitution of 1999. Nigeria has made major improvements in human rights under this constitution though the American Human Rights Report of 2012 notes areas where significant improvement is needed, which include: abuses by Boko Haram, killings by government forces, lack of social equality, and issues with freedom of speech. The Human Rights Watch's 2015 World Report states that intensified violence by Boko Haram, restrictions of LGBTIQQ rights, and government corruption continue to undermine the status of human rights in Nigeria.

Corruption in Nigeria Institutional corruption in the country

Political corruption is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria. In 2012, Nigeria was estimated to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since independence. In 2018, the country ranked 144th in the 180 countries listed in Transparency International's Corruption Index.

Edo people

The Edo or Benin people is an ethnic group primarily found in Edo State, Nigeria. They speak the Edo language and are the descendants of the founders of the Benin Empire. They are closely related to other ethnic groups that speak Edoid languages, such as the Esan, the Afemai, the Isoko and the Urhobo.

Corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, once legendary, has diminished in recent years, but continues to exceed corruption in most states. The BBC's DRC country profile calls its recent history "one of civil war and corruption." President Joseph Kabila established the Commission of Repression of Economic Crimes upon his ascension to power in 2001.

Nigeria–Turkey relations Diplomatic relations between Nigeria and the Republic of Turkey

Diplomatic relations at the legation level were established in 1960 and then to the rank of ambassador in 1958. Turkey opened an embassy in Lagos, then capital of Nigeria in 1962. Turkish embassy moved to Abuja in 2001 after Nigeria’s proclamation of Abuja as the new capital.

The politics of the belly, a translation of the French term politique du ventre, is a Cameroonian expression popularised by Jean-François Bayart in his 1989 book L'État en Afrique: La Politique du Ventre to describe African political power in the post-colonial era. It refers, in particular, to the relationship between patrimonialism, clientelism, corruption, and power. According to Lynn M. Thomas of the University of Washington:

"The politics of the belly points to the propensity of politicians to hoard and greedily consume resources in things and people. In addition to highlighting the significance of idioms of eating and the belly to African conceptions of power, Bayart's analysis insists on the importance of vertical relationships – those between social unequals such as [...] patrons or clients – to understand African political history."

Clientelism is the exchange of goods and services for political support, often involving an implicit or explicit quid-pro-quo. Clientelism involves an asymmetric relationship between groups of political actors described as patrons, brokers, and clients.

Nigeria had one of the world's highest economic growth rates, averaging 7.4% according to the Nigeria economic report released in July 2019 by the World Bank. Following the oil price collapse in 2014–2016, combined with negative production shocks, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate dropped to 2.7% in 2015. In 2016 during its first recession in 25 years, the economy contracted by 1.6%. Nationally, 40 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line, while another 25 percent are vulnerable. For a country with massive wealth and a huge population to support commerce, a well-developed economy, and plenty of natural resources such as oil, the level of poverty remains unacceptable. However, poverty may have been overestimated due to the lack of information on the extremely huge informal sector of the economy, estimated at around 60% more, of the current GDP figures. As of 2018, Population growth rate is higher than economic growth rate, leading to a slow rise in poverty. According to a 2018 report by the World Bank, almost half the population is living below the international poverty line, and unemployment peaked at 23.1%.

Prince Chibudom Nwuche was born in Enugu into the royal family of Clifford Cheta Nwuche and Grace Ogbuta Nwuche. He is from Ochigba town in Ahoada East in the Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to politics and political science:

References

  1. ↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12371a.htm
  2. ↑ Max Weber, The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism (Free Press, 1951)
  3. 1 2 Max Weber, The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism (Free Press, 1958), pp 70–71, as quoted by Immanuel Wallerstein in The Modern World-System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century (University of California Press, 2011)
  4. ↑ Seema Alavi, The 18th Century in India (New Delhi, 2002), p. 33
  5. ↑ Joseph, Richard A., Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic, Cambridge University Press, 1987
  6. ↑ Joseph, Richard, "Nigeria: Inside the Dismal Tunnel," Current History, May 1996
  7. ↑ Corruption Perceptions Index 2006, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2011-04-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Nigerian governors in graft probe" at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5387814.stm
  9. ↑ Dike, Victor E., "Nigeria: Governance and Nigeria's Ailing Economy," Daily Champion (Lagos), http://allafrica.com/stories/200612130710.html
  10. ↑ Mbamara, Oliver O., "In Defense of Nigeria: Amidst the Feasting of Critics," Africa Events, http://www.africanevents.com/Essay-InDefenseOfNigeria0606.htm [ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.