10 research outputs found
Institutional Design and the Implementation of the African Peace Security Architecture in Eastern Africa
No full textThe relationship between, on the one hand, the design of the African Peace Security Architecture (APSA), and implementation of APSA’s institutional provisions, on the other, remains less well understood, contrary to scholarly optimism on the future of security cooperation in Africa. For instance, security cooperation in Eastern Africa portrays interlocked but dissimilar institutional features that impact APSA’s implementation: some features apply only to the EAC; others encompass non-East African Community (EAC) states under the Eastern Africa Standby Force; still others interlock the Great Lakes Region with Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and beyond. Drawing upon field work on security cooperation in the EAC, existing studies and documents on APSA, this article analyses how institutional design affects APSA’s implementation in Eastern Africa. Three design aspects are considered decisionmaking rules; the bindingness of security commitments; and implementation mechanisms. The findings indicate that states’ overlapping memberships in both Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Brigades stretching beyond these RECs breeds decision-making overlaps, conflicting obligations, and parallel conventions with different levels of force in terms of how binding to states these instruments are. Overlapping membership also engenders implementation challenges when member States are overstretched. APSA’s future, The article argues, lies in reconstituting and tailoring Regional Brigades along RECs, and enhancing RECs’ politico-security cooperation in order to reduce conflicting decisions, enhance intra-REC coordination and commitment, and augment confidence-building measures among REC member-States.Key Words: APSA; Eastern Africa; Security Institutions; Security Cooperation; Institutional Design. La relation entre la conception de l'Architecture africaine de paix et de sécurité (APSA) et la mise en oeuvre de ses dispositions institutionnelles n’est pas bien comprise, contrairement à l'optimisme savant sur l'avenir de la coopération en matière de sécurité en Afrique. Par exemple, la coopération en matière de sécurité en Afrique de l'Est présente des caractéristiques institutionnelles interdépendantes mais dissemblables qui ont une incidence sur la mise en oeuvre de l'APSA: certaines caractéristiques demeurent au sein de la Communauté de l’Afrique de l’Est (CAE); d'autres englobent des États non membres de la CAE dans le cadre de la Force de réserve de l'Afrique de l'Est; d'autres encore imbriquent la région des Grands Lacs dans l'Autorité intergouvernementale pour le développement (IGAD) en Afrique de l'Est et au-delà. L’effet que la conception institutionnelle a sur la mise en oeuvre de lAPSA en Afrique de l’Est est analysé en s'appuyant sur les travaux de terrain sur la coopération en matière de sécurité au sein de la CAE, les études et documents existants sur l'APSA. Trois aspects conceptionnels sont identifiés: les règles de prise de décision ; le caractère contraignant des conventions/décisions de sécurité ; et les mécanismes de mise en oeuvre. Les résultats montrent que le fait que des États soient à la fois membres des Communautés économiques régionales (CER) et des Brigades régionales qui s'étendent au-delà de ces CER entraine des chevauchements de décisions, des obligations contradictoires et des conventions parallèles avec différents niveaux d’engagement des États dans ces instruments. Ce chevauchement des membres engendre également des difficultés de mise en oeuvre lorsque les États membres sont débordés. L'avenir de l'APSA réside donc dans la reconstitution et l'adaptation des brigades régionales aux CER, et dans le renforcement de la coopération politico-sécuritaire entre les CER pour la réduction les décisions contradictoires, l’amélioration de la coordination et de l'engagement au sein des CER ainsi que des mesures de confiance entre les États membres des CER.Mots clés : APSA ; Afrique de l’Est ; Institutions sécuritaires ; Coopération sécuritaire ; Conception institutionnelle
Administering Uganda's 2006 Multiparty Elections: The Role of the Electoral Commission
No full textOn 23 February, 2006, Ugandan voters could for the first time since 1980 choose a party of their choice rather than select individual candidates within the Nation Resistance Movement (NRM) system. This paper focuses on the role of the Uganda Electoral Commission in administering the 2006 presidential and parliamentary elections. Following international established standards for election monitoring, we asses the administration of the elections through the pre-election, election and post-election stages of the 2006 elections. We also compare the conduct of the 2006 elections to the 2001 elections. Finally, based on observations and key informant interviews, we analyse the perceptions of stakeholders in the electoral process. We find that the current Uganda Electoral Commission improved election management compared to previous elections, but also experienced considerable shortcomings linked to inadequate voter education, significant incumbency advantages and breaches of electoral rules and regulations
Administering Uganda's 2006 Multiparty Elections: The Role of the Electoral Commission
No full textOn 23 February, 2006, Ugandan voters could for the first time since 1980 choose a party of their choice rather than select individual candidates within the Nation Resistance Movement (NRM) system. This paper focuses on the role of the Uganda Electoral Commission in administering the 2006 presidential and parliamentary elections. Following international established standards for election monitoring, we asses the administration of the elections through the pre-election, election and post-election stages of the 2006 elections. We also compare the conduct of the 2006 elections to the 2001 elections. Finally, based on observations and key informant interviews, we analyse the perceptions of stakeholders in the electoral process. We find that the current Uganda Electoral Commission improved election management compared to previous elections, but also experienced considerable shortcomings linked to inadequate voter education, significant incumbency advantages and breaches of electoral rules and regulations
Digital Dawn: Toward a Framework for Assessing the Efficacy of ePapers in the Ugandan Press
No full textAre electronic newspapers (ePapers) efficacious? Does digitalisation enable newspapers to perform traditional and contemporary roles in developing-world contexts like Uganda? The question begs ready answers. As newspapers globally succumb to digital media technologies concurrent with novel political economy shocks, we lack cogent assessments of their efficacy. Some scholars view dwindling print-copy circulations and readerships, online platforms, news aggregators, and alternative online news sources as portending doom for print newspapers. In Uganda, printed newspaper circulation is falling. Several newspapers have digitised, forming online versions, ePapers, to reach wider audiences. However, media scholarship lacks a framework for assessing their efficacy. The framework we propose–based on a qualitative review of theoretical and empirical literature–combines theoretical resources from technological determinism and critical political economy. It offers three parameters, with corresponding indicators, for assessing ePapers’ efficacy in Uganda’s press: sustaining traditional media roles; widening readership; and revenue/profit generation. Under traditional media roles, indicators are: allowing information access, reader education, and facilitating accountability demands. Under readership, we propose attracting new subscribers, actual ePaper readership, and ePaper cross-referencing. Under revenue generation, we suggest ePaper-usage revenues, and revenue changes (from subscription, advertisement) over time. We recommend mixed methods for empirically testing the framework in and beyond Ugand
Crime, Poverty and Police Corruption in Developing Countries
No full textCrime and the fear of being hit by crime and small-scale violence are key economic and social problems in most developing countries, not least felt strongly by the poor. Extensive corruption in the police, experienced or perceived, contributes seriously to the problem. A key question raised in the paper is: How is police corruption linked to the wider processes of development - including crime, violence and poverty? The paper examines (i) how and why corruption may arise in the daily routines of the police and whether it may have impacts on crime rates; (ii) empirical indications of whether the police may be more corrupt than other groups of public officials; (iii) how and why police corruption may vary across countries; and (iv) the wider impacts of police corruption on developmentCorruption Crime Police Poverty JEL classification: D73, K42, O17
