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11. Sudan’s Armed Militias and the Crisis of Civil Democratic Transition

Author:
Osama Abu Bakr
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
In December 2018, Sudan experienced a popular uprising that successfully overthrew the regime of Omar al-Bashir, leading to a transitional period with power shared among military leaders. The transitional government, guided by the principles of freedom, peace, and justice that fueled the uprising, prioritized the resolution of internal conflicts and the achievement of peace. As part of these efforts, negotiations were initiated with armed militias mediated by the state of South Sudan in its capital, Juba. These negotiations culminated in the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement in 2020 between the government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), which encompassed seven armed militias operating in Darfur, the southern Blue Nile, and eastern Sudan.1 One of the most significant outcomes of the Juba Agreement was the inclusion of the SRF coalition as a third party in the transitional government. However, the integration of these militias into the political system faced challenges due to the behavior of some of their leaders. This hindered the progress of the civil democratic transition and deepened the divide between these militias and the civil political forces, with the former aligning more closely with anti-democratic elements. Eventually, these militias formed alliances within the army and orchestrated a military coup against the transitional government on 25 October 2021. This essay examines the role of armed militias in Sudan and how they use armed conflict to achieve their leaders’ stated objectives of power and wealth redistribution, as well as ending political and economic marginalization in certain regions of Sudan. These leaders employ a political discourse that links the cessation of war and the prospects of peace to a peaceful transfer of power, democratic transformation, and equitable distribution of power and resources. The central question posed by this paper is why these armed militias have positioned themselves against the Sudanese uprising and opposed the process of civil democratic transition and instead supported the military coup. The argument put forth in this paper is that the militias’ opposition to civil democratic transition stems from how they were formed, their organizational structures, the conduct of their leaders, and the intersections between public and private interests. Furthermore, the fragility of the state, its limited capacities, and the lack of legitimacy among its leaders are significant factors that underpin the militias’ approach to human rights issues and popular demands.
Topic:
Conflict, Militias, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

12. The Development of Post-Apartheid South Africa in Light of the Institutionalist Perspective: A Critical Review

Author:
João Paulo Davi Constantino, Robson Dias da Silva, and Georges Flexor
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
This work aims to present a critical analysis of the impacts on the diffusion of new international institutional and governance standards in the economic development of South Africa (in its broad sense). The study was divided into four sections, besides the introduction and the final consider-ations. The second section addresses the association between institutions and economic development in recent academic literature. The third section presents the methodology applied to assess the development of democracy, private and intellectual property rights, financial institutions, tariffs and commercial protection in the country, as well as of welfare and labor pro-tection institutions. The fourth section briefly addresses the South African democratic transition period back in the 1990s, highlighting its institutional and political shift towards a neoliberal model capable of favoring monetary stability and "big business", despite the chronic inequalities yet observed in the country nowadays. The fifth section makes an in-depth analysis of each of these institutions in the South African context and investigates the extent to which they have resulted in economic growth, reduced inequalities and have enabled better quality of life for the South African population. It was possible concluding that the association between institutions and economic development is more complex than the one presumed by many economists and international organisms, since it does not present a simple and lin-ear correlation. Moreover, it was observed that developing countries need to implement structural transformations that are beyond the sole power of market mechanisms.
Topic:
Apartheid, International Organization, Markets, Governance, Democracy, Institutions, Economic Development, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

13. Coalition Formation and the Regime Divide in Central Europe

Author:
Anna Grzymała-Busse
Publication Date:
01-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The study examines the formation of coalitions in East Central Europe after the democratic transitions of 1989. Existing explanations of coalition formations, which focus on either office-seeking and minimum wmning considerations, or on policy-seeking and spatial ideological convergence. However, they fail to account for the coalition patterns in the new democracies of East Central Europe. Instead, these parties' flrst goal is to develop clear and consistent reputations. To that end, they will form coalitions exclusively within the two camps of the regime divide: that is, amongst parties stemming from the former communist parties, and those with roots in the former opposition to the communist regimes. The two corollaries are that defectors are punished at unusually high rates, and the communist party successors seek, rather than are sought for, coalitions. This model explains 85% of the coalitions that formed in the region after 1989. The study then examines the communist successor parties, and how their efforts illustrate these dynamics .
Topic:
Coalition, Post-Communism, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe

14. Elite Circulation & Consolidation of Democracy in Poland

Author:
Jacek Wasilewski
Publication Date:
01-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The paper examines two aspects of democratic consolidation-institution building and value consensus through analysis of the old and new elites in Poland. It argues that although Polish democracy is established and working, it has not been fully consolidated. Poland represents the case of a ·shallow consolidation," i.e., all elements constituting a consolidated democratic regime are in place, but relations among them do not form a coherent structure typical of mature democracies.
Topic:
Democratization, Elites, Consolidation, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Poland

15. Organizing Diversity: Evolutionary Theory, Network Analysis, & Postsocialist Transformations

Author:
Gernot Grabher and David Stark
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
In contrast to the dominant transition framework that examines organizational forms in Eastern Europe according to the degree to which they conform to or depart from the blueprints of already existing capitalisms, this essay exam ines the innovative character. born of necessity. in whicb actors in the postsocialist setting are restructured by re defining and recombining resources. Instead of conceiving these recombinations as accidental aberrations. it explores their evolutionary potentials. Its starting premise is that the actual unit of entrepreneurshp is not the isolated indi vidual personality but the social networks that link firms and the actors within them. Drawing on recent develop ments in evolutionary theory. it cautions that although all-encompassing privatization and marketization might fos ter adaptation in the short run. the consequent loss of organizational diversity will impede adaptability in the long run. *This essay was written while David Stark was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences sup­ported by grants from the National Science Foundation #SES-9022192 and from the U.S. Department of State Title VIII Funds Grant #1006-304101. Our thanks to Bill Barnett, Pascal Boyer, Geoff Fougere, Istvan Gabor, Szabolcs Kemeny, Ger ald McDermott, and Monique Djokic Stark for their criticisms of an earlier draft. Address correspondence to David Stark Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 202 Junipero Serra Blvd., Stanford CA 94305 (or to stark@casbs. stanford.edu).
Topic:
Diversity, Network Analysis, Post-Communism, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

16. Governing Enterprises in Transition Economies: The Problem of Mixed Ownership in the Czech Republic

Author:
Raj M. Desai
Publication Date:
01-1995
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper examines how formerly state-owned enterprises are governed in a post-Communist economy. Privatization was intended to clarify ownership rights by making private property the basis for productive relations. Inreality, gov ernments still own substantial percentages of share capital in "privatized" enterprises. and the question of who controls the company often remains unclear. Two dimensions of emerging corporate-governance structures are examined for enterprises under joint public-private ownership: contract enforcement and the influence of the state-as shareholder. The main argument is that these structures are determined according to government-investor negotiations over how to relinquish control of firms and privatize their cash flows, and proceeds in two steps. First, state authori ties and prospective investors commit to the terms of privatization. Second, instruments of contract enforcement and state influence emerge from these commitments through bargaining. Evidence from two industry cases in the Czech Republic-steel and petrochemicals-shows that contract-enforcement is delegated to a third party when a govern ment cannot credibly commit to all the privatization terms desired ex ante by investors who prefer long-term, Jarge bloc equities; additionally, the state's fiduciary influence will be limited if ministries and property agencies are politically unified. Delegating contractual responsibility while limiting state discretion will make progress in estab lishing property rights. • An earlier version of this paper was delivered at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chi cago. September 1995 .. The author is grateful for comments from Peter Hall. Joel Hellman. Grzegorz Ekiert, and the par ticipants of the Seminar on Post-Communist Institutions (Russian Research Center). and the Workshop on East European Politics (Center for European Studies). Harvard University.
Topic:
Governance, Industry, Ownership, Post-Communism, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Czech Republic

17. The Race for the Pax Germanica: Spain versus Central & Eastern Europe

Author:
Hans Slomp
Publication Date:
01-1993
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Most Central and Eastern European countries are experimenting with forms of tripartism, i.e., trade union/employer/government contacts at all-industry level. This form of bargaining and consultation is patterned after the tripartite councils in Northern Europe. Spain has also had a number of tripartite agreements in the early 1980s, and its transition toward democracy is sometimes compared to that in (Central and) Eastern Europe. In this paper, Spanish and Eastern European labor relations are compared on the basis of the basic features of Northern European labor relations, in which tripartism has a longer tradition: the nature of the labor movement, the pacification of the enterprise by a shift of conflict to the branch level, and the depoliticization of labor relations. Eastern Europe's trade union density and trade union structure seem to be better adapted to tripartism than the Spanish labor movement. The major hindrance to a system of branch bargaining is the absence of employers organizations. It could be overcome to some extent by regional collective bargaining, with the local government as an active participant.
Topic:
Industry, Trade Unions, Democratic Transitions, Labor Movement, and Tripartism
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, Spain, and Central Europe

18. Democratic Transitions: Puzzles & Surprises from West to East

Author:
Giuseppe di Palma
Publication Date:
01-1990
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Recent communist crises in Eastern Europe seem to have caught many analysts by surprise. They also show features that set them apart from contemporary crises of right-wing dictatorships. The paper analyzes the reasons for the surprise in the light of theories of communism and of civil society under communism developed since the death of Stalin. It also examines and tries to account for the special features of the crises: their sudden acceleration •. the regimes' loss of a will to rule, the mobilization of large popular strata. Explanations focus on the goal-oriented nature of communist regimes as an alternative to the Western order. It makes the issue of self-identity and self justification crucial to these regimes-more crucial than for right-wing dictatorships. Therefore, the announcement by the Soviet hegemon itself that the goal has failed removes those tenuous shreds of self-justification to which the regimes desperately cling. This also makes possible and explains mass mobilization and the revival of civil society as a cathartic exercise. The paper concludes with an analysis of the prospects for democratization in Eastern Europe in the light of recent transitions in Southern Europe and Latin America. Democracy may develop-theoretical pessimism notwithstanding--as a matter of calculus and through an accelerated process of learning.
Topic:
Politics, Dictatorship, Identity, Post-Communism, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Europe and Eastern Europe

19. The Constitution of Critical Intellectuals: Polish Physicians, Peace Activists, & Democratic Civil Society

Author:
Michael D Kennedy
Publication Date:
01-1989
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The post-communist system in Eastern Europe will be distinguished by the quality of its civil society. The market will cast civil society's construction in one mold, but a democratic civil society will depend on the constitution of critical intellectuals, or the making of individuals with the inclination and capacity to understand their personal situation to reflect a public condition, and to understand the public condition as constituted through potentially transformed power relations. In order to illuminate this general process, this paper rethinks the distinction of intellectuals and considers two important cases of the making of critical intellectuals in pre-transition Poland. Physicians in 1980-81 and peace activists in 1985-88 illustrate how instabilities create opportunities for new groups of people to become critical intellectuals and how critical intellectual work can create new possibilities for social transformation. By illuminating these processes, this paper hopes to contribute to the expansion of critical intellectuality in and about Eastern Europe.
Topic:
Civil Society, Activism, Post-Communism, Democratic Transitions, and Intellectuals
Political Geography:
Europe and Eastern Europe