Citizenship, Constitutional Legitimacy and Identity in Post-Colonial African Nation-States

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  • March 20, 2019
Creator
  • Araia, Berhane Berhe
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sociology
Abstract
  • The dissertation investigates the institutional and attitudinal effects of postcolonial citizenship on the stability of nation states and on the popular attitudes of citizens of selected African nations. The study of how citizens are connected to and perceive the state is an important question in understanding the long-term sustainability of African democratic systems. The dissertation is organized into three distinct chapters that are tied by common theoretical and empirical questions. Each employs different methods and levels of analysis in answering fundamental political questions about African postcolonial societies. These crucial questions revolve around institutional differences between urban and rural sectors and citizens of Africa. It studies the effects of urban- rural institutional dualisms in geographic, legal and citizenship dimensions. Furthermore, this work develops various statistical models to test the cross-national differences on various issues of importance to the continent. It looks into the effect of institutional dualism on state stability, constitutionalism and national identity in postcolonial African states and societies. Statistical analyses confirm that there is strong evidence for duality between urban and rural citizens in their support of constitutions and endorsement of traditional form of authority. This duality is stronger when inter-ethnic differences are controlled. Results also confirm that there is fundamental urban-rural duality in citizens' construction of national and group identity in African states.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Blau, Judith
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  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • October 19, 2010

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