The State and Political Instability in Africa

Abstract

Political instability has been an enduring feature of the post-colonial landscape in Africa. The scholarly literature has offered various reasons for this phenomenon – the Cold War, ethnic antagonisms and rent-seeking behaviour, among others. However, this article argues that the peripheral capitalist African state is the primary source of political instability on the continent. Specifically, the peripheral capitalist state has generated various crises such as poor regime performance that occasion political instability. Also, since the peripheral capitalist African state is a product and appendage of the global capitalist system, the latter contributes to instability in the former. Hence, in order to tackle the vagaries of political stability, the peripheral capitalist African state must be democratically reconstituted, and fundamental changes must be made in the global capitalist political economy.

Socio‐emotional Wealth Preservation and Alliance Success in Family Firms: The Role of Political Instability and Alliance Management Capability

“…PI gives rise to economic uncertainty and mismanagement, which poses a direct challenge on firms' survival (Chikweche, 2013). Focusing on developing economies, PI can cause three major consequences: poor regime performance, ethnic polarization and political factionalism (Kieh, 2009). As a prominent example, during the Arab Spring, some Arab countries witnessed instability in their political regimes, leading to uncertainty and turbulence in all economic sectors, including family businesses (Bekaert et al, 2014;Darendeli and Hill, 2016).…”

On the role and nature of alliance management capability in family business: Empirical evidence from a developing market

“…This sets the period for the occurrence of instability events such as public demonstrations, coups, riots, strikes, and civil wars (Elbahnasawy, Ellis, & Adom, 2016;Kieh, 2009). Political instability gives rise to economic uncertainty and mismanagement, which poses a direct challenge for firms' survival (Chikweche, 2013;Saadatyar, Poursalimi, Al-Tabbaa, & Iannotta, 2020).…”

Determinants of informal entrepreneurship in Africa

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