A GJ Frontiers article.

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the trajectory of the State and Democracy system in Somaliland (former Northwest region of Somalia). It investigates the historical process and its nature since the 1991 declaration of independence. It analyzes the character of the State construction, its political culture and its main constraints and needs in a comparative perspective with Somalia. Since 1991, Somaliland has been able to re-build a consensual system rooted in its own culture by combining imported institutions with informal notions of governance. Bad legacies of the past – warlordism, authoritarianism, predatory attitudes, etc. – and the introduction of multipartitism could reverse the development and consolidation of the democracy and of a democratic culture. However, such system will endure if it will maintain its main features: flexibility, localism, and consensualism.

Originally published in Global Jurist Frontiers.

Recommended Citation

Battera, Federico (2004) "State- & Democracy-Building in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Case of Somaliland - A Comparative Perspective," Global Jurist Frontiers: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1, Article 1.
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/gj/frontiers/vol4/iss1/art1